Vessel of the Egyptian Gods
by YuGiOhRox
Summary: When Malik is overcome by an ancient power, he needs to find the one person that can bring balance to his world. The other half of his soul; his soulmate. Warnings and full summary inside.
1. Chapter 1

Vessel of the Egyptian Gods

**Alternate storyline.**

When Malik was given the Guardian's Rite of Passage, his world seemed to take a turn for the worse. However nobody knew that the Rite of Passage would unlock a deeply buried power that has been longing for release for 5000 years. The five Egyptian Gods! But at the young age of ten, Malik can't handle the power bestowed upon him by Obelisk, Slifer, Ra, Horakhty and Zorc. While they are not restrained properly within their shared vessel, the destructive powers of these ethereal beings taint the clan of Guardians. To save his family, (and, oh yeah, the rest of the world) Malik must find the Pharaoh he serves and the one other person who could help him gain control over the divine powers inside of him, Malik's other half. His soulmate.

**Warning: Violence, gore, foul language, implied rape and lots and lots of YAOI! Don't like, don't read.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh! That right belongs only to Kazuki Takahashi... Lucky bastard.**

_A cold night in Egypt. That's how this whole story starts. Deep underneath the desert sands, there was a hidden tomb, a tomb home to the Guardians of the Pharaoh. The Guardians' origins went back 5000 years, to the reign of a King whose name has been lost. In each and every generation of Guardians there have been different levels of magic, hidden within the souls of the Pharaoh's servants. None have possessed a level of magic as strong as a boy from the 592__nd__ clan though._

_It was because of this boy's power though that it all started this cold night. It was because of this boy, that the lives of a group of people in Japan would be altered for ever._

The boy in question was lying in bed, dreading the evening meal he would later share with his family. He sighed, knowing what was sure to come after he had been fed. His name was Malik Ishtar and he was the newest member of the Pharaoh's Guardians. He had shoulder-length blonde hair, which framed his perfectly shaped face. He had two narrow lavender eyes which contrasted greatly with his tanned skin. Malik had a lithe, lean body which was good for running errands up and down the tombs quickly. Even though this young lad was only ten, it didn't stop him from being any less beautiful.

It was Malik's birthday today, and he was more terrified of this fact more than anything he had been scared of in his life so far. As a young boy, Malik didn't enjoy pain much, and the fate he knew would befall him tonight was bound to be agonizing. Tonight Malik knew he would receive the Guardian's Rite of Passage to become bound to the Nameless Pharaoh he served.

"Master Malik?" The kid in question looked up at the sound of his adopted brother's voice.

"What is it Odeon?"

"Your Father has requested your presence in the dining hall. He was adamant that you should come this instant."

"Of course. Thank you for getting me." Odeon nodded his head and Malik stood up and made his way through the tomb until he reached the dining hall. Odeon who had followed his charge carefully through the corridors of his home, stood off to one side to get his Master's food. Malik himself sat next to his older sister Ishizu, so that they were both facing their father, Hafiz.

"Sister. Father." Malik nodded his head to both of them in greeting. Hafiz and Ishizu did the same.

"Brother."

"Son."

"My Masters. Your meal is prepared and I have brought you all some water." Odeon placed the food for his adopted family in front of them and went away to have his own meal on the floor. The Ishtar family was silent as they all ate and drank their fill; it was far too awkward to speak as all of them knew what would happen to the youngest boy that night.

"Daughter, Odeon." Hafiz managed to spit those two words from his mouth without conveying too much of his disgust for the mentioned two, as he rose from the table and beckoned Malik to follow him into the chamber where the Guardian's Rite of Passage would be performed. Malik did as his father commanded and rose from the table also, bowing to his siblings before walking after his father. Hafiz led the boy through all the twists and turns of the tomb's tunnels until they entered the sacred chamber, in the very heart of the clan's home. Hafiz glanced at Malik to catch his eye, telling him to lie on his stomach, on the table in the middle of the room. Malik complied.

Hafiz took all the necessary precautions; strapping his son to the table, gagging him and making sure the searing hot knife, resting above a candle, would leave behind very precise markings, to heal into the scars that would be the key to unlocking the secrets of the Pharaoh. As he did this, Malik lay face down on the table, trying to summon some knowledge from his Guardian training, for a spell that would help to ease the pain. He came up blank though and started to squirm, as the realization of his current situation set in. His back was going to be torn open, with a hot knife and intricate symbols were going to be carved into his flesh.

He was bound and gagged now and the rag in his mouth did an unsurprisingly good job at hiding his screams. They echoed off the walls of the room and increased in pitch as Hafiz cut along a sensitive part by his spine too deeply. On instinct his back arched and that lessened the pain somewhat. This agonizing ceremony lasted for an hour, and Malik's throat had gone raw from all his screaming.

In the end, Malik was covered in his own blood, chained down to a table and gagged. And while his eyes were swimming with tears, he didn't notice how lustfully his father was looking at him. It was rather understandable though, Malik was breathing heavily making his shoulders rise and fall, and every time this happened the dim light in the room would reflect off of the his sweat coated skin. As this happened, the young boy seemed to glow which caused him to look even more beautiful than normal. So in short, the newest Guardian of the Pharaoh was beautiful, weak and vulnerable. Hafiz just couldn't resist, he started touching his son all over, paying no attention as Malik squirmed feebly to get away. He smirked, as the pretty boy lying before him turned limp from exhaustion, as he started ridding Malik of his robes and himself of his own garments.

'_Why?'_ Thought Malik, as it sunk in what his father was doing. _'Why is he doing this? Argh! He's not going to stop, and I'm too tired to try getting away. Oh, if only I wasn't so weak!'_

Hafiz didn't stop; he continued his ministrations of touching his son and started arousing himself further. The cruellest man alive smiled, as he had formed a rather horrible idea. He stopped touching his son, in favour of straddling him and positioning himself near Malik. Malik screamed and cried when he felt what his father was doing to him, while the sickest man in the universe was laughing and moaning in pleasure and glee.

This continued for a long while, and thanks to a newly placed sound-sealing spell on the door of this chamber, no-one heard Malik's pleading or his sobs. And since Malik would be denied visitors for the next month, so he could heal, nobody down in the tombs questioned his absence. Thanks to everything his father had set up to initiate him, not a soul knew of the events occurring at that moment, and nobody had a clue as the most important member of the clan for the past 5000 years, (unbeknownst to them) was violated in the sickest and most dreadful way imaginable.

**Poor Malik, it'll get better. Please review or I won't put up another chapter.**


	2. Chapter 2

Vessel of the Egyptian Gods

**Alternate Storyline.**

**Warning: Violence, gore, foul language, implied rape and lots and lots of YAOI! Don't like, don't read.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh… yet. That right belongs only to Kazuki Takahashi.**

**Thank you for reviewing iloveyugiohGX93**

_Pain. That was all he felt, pain. His back was in searing agony, and he was still covered in blood. It was dark but there was a light up ahead and he reached out to it. He started walking towards it, and he got closer. He reached out his hand and it was enveloped in the glow. He felt a jolt, like a static shock and tried to pull his hand back, only to find it was stuck. Sighing, he stepped into the light to see what would happen and took a sharp intake at breath at what he was welcomed with._

It was a throne room of some sorts. Malik had entered through some kind of inter-dimensional portal into a gigantic throne room. Everything was golden, glowing and singing with power. There were three giant thrones lined up in front of him and another higher off of the ground behind the middle one. On the floor, in front of the middle throne there was a pool of some sorts, which was surrounded by a dark and evil aura. When Malik stepped forward and took a closer look, he saw that there was a throne in there, just like the ones where he was right now, only black and looked menacing.

"Malik Ishtar." The mentioned boy jumped in surprise as a powerful and regal voice echoed around the room. He whipped his head up in surprise and saw the four thrones glowing with a golden light that matched the thrones themselves. The glows centred themselves in the seats of the thrones and transformed into balls of light. The orbs soon expanded and shaped into four giant silhouettes. Then the glow shut off and Malik was faced with great and powerful beings he had read about in his scriptures. Before him was Obelisk the Tormentor, who sat calmly in his throne, Slifer the Sky Dragon, who had coiled around his, and The Winged Dragon of Ra, who was perched upon the backrest of his throne in the middle. Behind Ra in the higher throne, was The Creator of Light Horakhty and she was sitting calmly in her throne just as Obelisk was.

Malik bowed his head in respect to the divine beasts in front of him, only to see that on the dark throne shown through the pool, was Zorc Necrophades. He jumped in surprise and fell on his back. When the impact came, he expected to feel a hell of a lot of pain, so when he didn't feel any he was really confused.

His face must have shown it because Ra said, "This is a place for dead spirits. There is no such thing as pain or pleasure here; everything will just make you feel numb."

"D-Dead spirits my Lord? Does th-that mean I'm…" Malik was growing scared. Was he really? Would he be judged and sent off to the Shadow Realm, or the Realm of the Next Life?

"Yes." Slifer answered his unfinished question. "I am afraid that you _are_ dead. But your soul will not move on, you aren't done with your life yet young one."

"B-But I'm d-dead my Lord. How can my life not be done?"

"Because, you are what we rely on as our link to your world. Ashamed as I am to say it, we depend on a human spirit as our host. All five of us merge within one soul so our powers may be used to better the mortal plane."

"A host, Lord Obelisk?" Malik wasn't scared now, just confused. "Do you mean that your spirits combine with my soul, so that you influence what happens in my world?"

"That is what he meant, young Ishtar. This is a lot of responsibility for a ten year old boy, but we will be able to help you. And if you learn to control everything bestowed upon you, you could summon us to aid you in times of great peril." Horakhty spoke in a motherly voice, hoping to soothe the human they would be existing in for a while. It worked but Malik wasn't sure if he could handle this.

"It would have been wise to mention Horakhty, that this mortal doesn't have a choice in the matter. He does however get to choose if it's painful or not. If he doesn't resist and that brat accepts it, it won't hurt. If he fights though…" Zorc trailed off with a dark, sadistic chuckle.

Ra was pissed now; there was something about this boy, other than him being the host of the Gods. He liked Malik and Zorc was just scaring him. "Necrophades, you big bully! He must be scared enough already and you're not helping, I swear if you pull something like that one more time, I'm gonna go through that portal and mess up your face even more than your mother did when she spawned such a vile thing!"

"Lord Ra." Malik was rather flattered that Ra had defended him from Zorc's harsh words, but was then a little upset because it was probably to make himself more comfortable while they were sharing spirits. "His words don't bother me; I'm only a little concerned that I won't be able to handle this. I am, after all, only ten. If I can't cope, what will happen to your spirits? I swore my loyalty to the Pharaoh, to the son of Ra. So you have my loyalty too. I swear to all of you that I shall do my best to serve you, I just hope that I don't let you down."

"Malik," Ra's tone was grateful and very pleased. "You imply it is an honour to serve us, by offering your body as a host. Yes?" Malik nodded. "The true honour should be ours. We have not been able to enter the mortal plane for 5000 years. And it is an honour for us to receive a host, who faces the task before him with courage."

Horakhty agreed; aswell as Obelisk and Slifer. Zorc gave a little grunt of appreciation also. Malik smiled at the grateful faces of the Gods on the golden thrones, but it dropped into a frown quickly.

"My Lords and Lady. Could I ask a favour?"

"Of course Malik, it's the least we can do. What do you ask of us?"

'Horakhty, the ever ethereal mother.' Malik mused. "Are you are that my father ra… that Hafiz Ishtar raped me?"

The faces of all the Gods went blank. Zorc because he was trying to control his excitement. He was going to be getting another sinful soul to torment. The not evil Gods from horror. How could he do such a thing to such a bright and pure child? was the theme running through their four heads.

"No. No we were not aware." Obelisk rasped in a shocked tone of voice.

"Oh, I am sorry to have bothered you with such knowledge. But may I ask for the thing that was mine and mine alone back? I feel that I would like to be pure again."

"Oh young one." Slifer sounded really upset. "Sorry but we cannot. We can remove the pain from your Rite of Passage and the incident that followed, but it is beyond our powers to restore your purity. I am sorry Malik."

"It's fine my Lord. I knew it was just wishful thinking. But could you please take the pain away?"

"I can." Horakhty slid off of her throne and walked down to Malik. She bent down and kissed him on the forehead and Malik felt all pain wash away.

"Thank you my Lady." Malik touched over his back to make sure that it wouldn't set off the pain again if it was touched. He only felt a little tingle, but he also felt that the scars had sealed up, and while they would show, they wouldn't let any blood escape from him.

"Yes, yes. The boy's all healed up now; can we get on with the bonding of our souls?" Zorc was trying to sound bored, but he only sounded like an impatient child, whose parents wouldn't buy him ice-cream.

"I am ready my Lords. But you didn't answer my question earlier, if I'm not able to handle this, what will happen to your spirits?"

"Nothing much Malik, our souls will just return here, until there is another available host." Ra really did like this boy; it was like he was more worried for them than he was for his own wellbeing. Then he remembered that just as Malik had sworn loyalty to the great Pharaoh, he had pledged his allegiance to them also.

"And how long would it take for another possible vessel to appear Lord Ra?"

"Please Malik; just call all of us by our names. Hearing Lord and Lady every time is tiresome. And it would, to answer your earlier question, take another 5000 years for another suitable vessel."

"Well, at least you won't have to be waiting that long for a host Ra. If you still want to bond your souls with my spirit, I'm ready." Malik was nervous, what if they didn't want to bond with him anymore; would they punish him for telling them such a thing?

"Thank you young Malik. We will always be there for you if you need us. There will be a different chant for all of us but summoning us all at the same time will have a separate chant aswell. When we are absorbed into your soul, the knowledge of these chants will be absorbed too." Horakhty smiled at the boy gratefully.

"Are you ready brat?" Malik ignored the jab from Zorc and nodded confidently. He truly believed that he was prepared for this. And as Obelisk turned into a blue ball of light, Slifer into red, Ra into gold, Horakhty into white and Zorc to black, Malik prayed he was right.

He didn't feel anything but warmth when the good Gods' orbs of light flowed into him and bonded with him. But he felt a shiver run up his spine when Zorc's cold orb merged with the others.

He felt his mind flood with the knowledge about the Gods and the chants that would summon them. It was a lot to take in and bonding spirits with such powerful beings had taken a lot of energy. Sleep was calling for him and he gave in willingly, and as his body was falling backwards, he fell through that portal made of light again. The next day when he woke in his bed, Malik felt smarter, stronger and no pain. The portal of light was gone.

'Was it all a dream?' Malik thought, but when he felt certain scars on his back pulsing, he knew it hadn't been. The scars that were glowing were the ones that should be looking like tablets of Obelisk the Tormentor, Slifer the Sky Dragon, Winged Dragon of Ra, the Millennium Key those three revolved around and the Sundisk near his shoulders.

'I guess not.' He thought amusedly and the pulsing stopped as if the Gods were happy that he had accepted that they were bonded souls, now and forever.

**If you think that Malik's personality changed, it's not because of his Other Half, remember his father had just raped him after the Guardian's Rite of Passage and he isn't going to trust people so easily, well Gods, but ah well.**

**Please Review.**


	3. Chapter 3

Vessel of the Egyptian Gods

**Alternate Storyline.**

**Warning: Violence, gore, foul language, implied rape and lots and lots of YAOI! Don't like don't read.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh! That right belongs only to Kazuki Takahashi.**

**Additional warning: There is a cheesy friendship inner-monologue type thing.**

_Small, warm fingers glided over the gold pieces. Taking the irregular shaped chunks of gold out of the box, and melding them together. The pieces were forming something, some type of puzzle in the shape of an upside down pyramid. The owner of these small warm fingers; was a young boy of ten years old. And this boy only had to put the last piece of the puzzle in it's place, then he would've finished it. So he did._

It was finished. Yuugi Muoto had completed the Millennium Puzzle, and he was the first known person to solve it in 5000 years. He had been working on the puzzle for two years, and everything had finally paid off. According to the hieroglyphs on the golden box, that the puzzle came in, Yuugi would now be granted the powers of the Yami no Game. He wasn't sure that he wanted anything to do with games of darkness, he was only ten, but he was looking forward to making his wish. Yuugi was bullied a lot at school, so now that he had completed the Millennium Puzzle, he was going to wish for friends. Friends that he would never betray and would never betray him. Then the bullying wouldn't matter one bit, because with his friends by his side he could get through anything. Of course, he had to make his wish and actually get some friends first.

Yuugi prayed to every god he knew of that his wish would come true, before settling down to sleep. When he was fully entered into the sweet land of hopes and dreams, he had no way of knowing about the Wudjat eye, in the centre of his puzzle, shimmering a brighter gold colour than before. So as the boy slept he had no idea about the spirit bond, created between himself and another boy his age.

Yami Sennen, shot up from his bed in a cold sweat.

'Can it be, my Hikari has finally finished the puzzle?' He thought. Yami was the reincarnation of the Pharaoh Atemu from 5000 years ago, and he knew that his Hikari would be the reincarnation of Atemu's lover, Heba. He had often pondered over something about this. Atemu and Heba had been soulmates, so if he and his Hikari were the reincarnations of two soulmates, would that make him and his Hikari soulmates too?

He decided that it did, it was only logical. He, instead, directed his mind to think about what he did know of the Yami and Hikari situation. For one, he knew that they were all reincarnations of soulmates from Ancient Egypt. Secondly, he was aware that the Yamis would be the dominant ones in the relationship, the one that formed between the two when they had found each other. Thirdly, Yami knew that there were nine pairs of Yami and Hikari soulmates that had been reborn into this time, and that none of them would have any memories except the basic knowledge of their current situation. That was fortunate, because he also knew that Hikaris had no knowledge of this at all. Finally, he knew that these pairs of soulmates all would share the same birthday.

His phone rang, shocking him out of his thoughts and he frowned when he saw who was calling him.

"What do you want Mariku?" He asked in a tired and bored voice.

"_Don't use that tone with me Pharaoh!"_ The boy on the other end of the line snapped.

"Yes mother." Yami teased. He smirked rather devilishly for a ten year old; it must have come with living the rich life.

Mariku growled and spat out_, "We are not going to get into this right now. I felt some sort of shock to my heart just now. I didn't like it, but something about it felt... familiar."_

Yami wasn't smirking now. "I felt something similar, right before I woke up. I think maybe my Hikari has finished the puzzle and created the bond between us. Do you think that maybe your Hikari has claimed the Rod, or come into contact with some great power?"

"_I don't know!"_ Mariku huffed. _"That's the problem! The shock set off a trigger of memories from old Egypt though. I was a young adult and dressed in my armour as the Palace General. I saw five humungous monsters but I couldn't make out any details. One was hidden in the shadows, and the other four were standing in front of the sun so I couldn't see them through the light, it was blinding me. I turned my head around, to get away from the light and saw that I was sitting next to a boy who looked like a tamer version of me, but he was wearing the clothes of a personal servant. He turned to look at me, said 'Jihad' and kissed me. That's all because then I got pissed and decided to call you. You always seem to know about this Yami and Hikari crap."_

"That last bit absolutely killed you to say didn't it 'Riku?" Ah, the smirk was back.

"_Yes it did, it absolutely did. Oh and Pharaoh Yami, you know not to call me that or I'm gonna send you on an early trip to the dentist for some replacement teeth."_

"Ok, I won't call you that! (For a day or two.)"

"_I heard that Yami!"_

"Not relevant right now. You may have formed a bond with your Hikari Mariku; we have to find whoever it is. Heba was a servant before he was Atemu's lover, so mine may be one of the unpopular kids at school. Your Hikari, Qausari right? was a Lord before his family name was torn down, so he may be one of the cooler kids at school." Yami offered.

"_Sorry Yami, but I don't think so. You didn't feel the shock that I did, in the memory those five giant monsters seemed to like Qausari and they seemed powerful. I think that finding my Hikari is going to be trickier than looking at the cool kids. I think that my Hikari, wherever he is, isn't going to be found by me. If you remember correctly, you'll know that when his family name was taken apart by bandits, Qausari found us at the Palace, not the other way around. If I'm right about this..."_

"Well that would certainly be a first."

"_Shut up! Anyway, if I'm right about this, my Hikari will seek me out, just as Qausari did Jihad."_

"Ok. Now I'm torn, because I don't know whether to be happy that you actually _do_ have a brain after all. Or should I be annoyed, because this means you don't have to do anything like me and Bakura do."

"_Try being happy, being annoyed is only going to amuse me further. Oh and I'm gonna get you back for the brain comment later."_

"Well maybe, if you do have a brain, you'll remember to do something about it."

"_Shut up, you're getting annoyed that I haven't broken down yet so you're trying to get me really mad at you, so you'll win. Well you're never gonna get that reaction out of me this time Yami, I know all your little tricks and how to counter them. By the way, that glare you're trying to send me through the phone right now, is only gonna make me laugh at you more."_

Yami looked up to his mirror only to find that he was indeed glaring through the phone. Mariku took his silence as a victory and said,_ "I win!"_

"I hate you 'Riku."

"_I TOLD YOU NOT TO CALL ME THAT!"_

**Thanks for reading, **_**please **_**review? *Sends Yuugi and Ryou to give you the puppy dog eyes and Malik into seducing it out of you.***


	4. Chapter 4

Vessel of the Egyptian Gods

**Alternate Storyline.**

**Warning: Violence, gore, foul language, implied rape and lots and lots of YAOI! Don't like, don't read.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh! That right belongs only to Kazuki Takahashi.**

**Thanks anon for the review, and anyone who has favourited or is following this, good to know you enjoy reading this.**

**In this chapter, it's been 7 years since the Guardian's Rite of Passage, Malik has mastered the power of the Gods inside of him and this chapter will have a flashback. All of the flashback will be written in **_**italic**_**. (Not the bit at the start.)**

_Slow and even breaths. Malik was surrounded by the steady and peaceful breathing of the other passengers on his flight to Domino City. He focused on the breathing of a large family in front of him. He felt himself grow tired at the content snores and deep breaths, so he focused on the sounds, trying to keep awake. It was no good, because five minutes later he found himself drifting off to sleep._

As he slept, the young Ishtar found his way to the deep recesses of his mind. There, instead of dreaming like an ordinary seventeen year old, Malik was talking to the Egyptian Gods who lived inside his body. Over the course of seven years, Malik had learned all the tricks to communicating and summoning the Gods in the outside world, but it was effortless to discuss with them inside his mind, because there was no stress on his physical body. Today he was talking with Obelisk, and he mentally groaned before he remembered that here in his mind, anything he thought would be heard. This theory was proved right when Obelisk chuckled. Malik smiled, he didn't mind talking with Obelisk, but he connected better with Ra, who treated him like some precious gem, or Horakhty, who seemed to take on the role of his mother figure since he couldn't remember his own.

Slifer was fun to talk to when he was upset, because it was always calming to just run his fingers over the smooth scales that was the long body of the giant Sky Dragon. Zorc always creeped him out, so he only talked to him on the darkest day of the year and on times when there was an eclipse.

Obelisk looked troubled, which was strange for him. Not many things got to the stoic blue god; Malik was one of those things that he knew of so far. So seeing _Obelisk_ act nervous and fidgety was cause for concern and caution.

"Malik, I assume you wonder why I appear to be on edge."

"I am curious Obelisk."

"Something is going to occur soon. And it is linked with what happened the day our spirits bonded together as one in place of six."

Malik paled. "Something all of you keep saying about my destiny, and the Pharaoh's. Is this going to be connected with that day my friend?"

"Yes Malik, I'm afraid it is. But before I can tell you any more, you must first remember what you have repressed." Obelisk pressed his finger to Malik's forehead and let the forgotten memories of Malik's tenth birthday flow through Malik's mind.

_Malik was lying on his bed, sorting out the information that had started to soak into his mind. So far, he knew about the small sacrifice he would have to make when summoning Zorc. He knew what he would have to chant to summon each god and the amount of Guardian magic he would have to weave into his words. The chants and spells were the easy parts. What was hard about this; was that he would have to train his body and mind to become stronger. He decided to work on that later, he was tired now, and binding five immortal souls to your own was exhausting._

_Suddenly Hafiz burst in, while Malik was still deep in thought, and shook Malik to his senses. The young boy, whimpered and he felt the anger of the Egyptian Gods stir. Hafiz was, of course, unaware of the powerful beings inside his son and assumed that the whimper was from the pain from his back. The cruellest father smirked and got that lustful look in his eyes once more. He placed another sound-sealing spell on the door to Malik's room, and decided that because Malik was still weak and in pain from the events that had occurred two hours ago, Hafiz would not have to tie him down. He wouldn't have to gag him this time, as he had placed the sound-sealing spell on the room beforehand._

_Malik was scared and backed up on his bed to the wall, hoping that if he pushed back enough, it would swallow him and take him away from Hafiz. The wall didn't agree with this idea though as it certainly didn't swallow him up. He saw Hafiz grin and his fear rushed through him like the Nile rushed through Egypt. Hafiz noticed and kept advancing on his son. Malik was backed up into a corner, and he began crying as he could guess what was to come. As memories of what his father did to him two hours ago, surged through his mind, Malik's spirit broke. He just stayed there with tears flooding into a puddle beneath him._

_Hafiz had taken his clothes off and was about to do the same to Malik, but suddenly the young Guardian stood up straight and held out his hand, palm facing the ceiling. He then started reciting a chant that Hafiz had read about only in legends. The cruellest Ishtar alive, paled, his eyes grew wide and he started shaking. This time it was _him _that backed up against the wall._

_Malik crossed his arms over his chest so that one fist would touch the opposite shoulder. "Great beast of the sky, please hear my cry." A golden ball of light flew out of Malik, from where his heart would be._

"_Transform thyself from orb of light, and bring me victory in this fight." The ball grew larger and started to shape itself into a different form._

"_And cover the desert with your glow, and cast your rage upon my foe." The light shape was taking on the form of a strong animal's body with two large wings. There were two red spots, on where something like a head was forming, which someone could guess were eyes._

"_Unlock the powers from deep within, so that together we may win." The winged beast, as it had now clearly revealed itself to be, was radiating an angry aura and those two red eyes were narrowed dangerously at Hafiz._

"_And enter in this Shadow Game, as I call your name... Winged Dragon of Ra!" Malik opened his arms wide as if readying himself for a hug and the winged dragon lost it's golden glow and while it was still a magnificent being to lay eyes upon, it wasn't blinding to look at now._

"_Now Ra, I think that something should be done about this man who thinks it's a good idea to rape his ten year old son. Don't you? Well maybe I'll let your actions speak louder than any words could be. Go Blaze Cannon!" Malik thrust his arm out to Hafiz and the attack followed the direction of his fist. The last thing Malik heard of the bastard he had once called father, was a scream and a cowardly beg for mercy._

'_As if Zorc would have mercy on an evil soul such as his.' Malik thought, before he promptly fell back on his bed unconscious. While in this state he didn't pay much attention to the warm sensation that flooded his body as the soul of Ra re-joined with his._

Malik shuddered as Obelisk removed the finger from his forehead. He wasn't repressing these memories and others like this anymore. He longed now to remember each and every time he felt the rush, as if he meant something to someone other than his siblings, when he summoned the Gods. He hadn't yet summoned Zorc as he was unwilling to pay a sacrifice when Obelisk, Slifer and Ra were ready to help him for nothing additional each time. And he also hadn't summoned Horakhty yet. He hadn't mastered the spell of 'Divine Fusion' and he couldn't fuse Gods without their consent. He hadn't needed to summon either of those two yet anyway and he hoped he could stay out of enough trouble where he never would have to use them. He doubted his wish would be fulfilled.

He mulled over his newly remembered memory and frowned. All Guardians of The Pharaoh had a sort of link with each other and could feel when a fellow Ishtar passed away. This extended to Odeon too, as he and Malik had bonded so greatly. After Malik had bonded with the five gods, newly acquired powers had begun to present themselves, such as linking minds and sharing thoughts and feelings with people close to him.

Anyway, all of them were bonded, and Malik knew that while Ra's blaze cannon had dealt Hafiz great pain, His ex-father had managed to escape the wrath of an Egyptian God somehow. Hafiz was very far away and still in pain, but he was very much alive.

"This is what you had to realise young one, he is still a threat. And while he lusts for you and revenge on you, the threat grows and he endangers those around him. Soon his Guardian power shall reflect from his emotions and will become dark and even more dangerous than before. As a Guardian, it is your duty to protect the world and those who exist in it. And you carry the greatest burden of all, as you also bear responsibility for the many realms of the gods aswell. We, excluding Zorc, are all very proud of you and we are still drowning in our gratitude."

"It is no trouble to me. Weight of the world on my shoulders? No problem as long as you'll help me."

"Of course Malik, we couldn't want to do anything else." Obelisk peered through the part of Malik's mind that was used when he was awake. "The conscious part of your mind stirs. You must wake, and keep in mind that no matter what the challenge, we will all be here to assist you."

"Thank you, my friend." Malik closed his eyes and pinched his arm and found himself waking to see sunlight streaming through the windows and to hear the pilot announce, _'Now landing in Domino City, Japan.'_

'This is it.' Thought Malik as the plane touched down on the foreign runway.


	5. Chapter 5

Vessel of the Egyptian Gods

**Alternate Storyline.**

**Warning: Violence, gore, foul language, implied rape and lots and lots of YAOI! Don't like, don't read.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh! That right belongs only to Kazuki Takahashi.**

_A sharp tug in his stomach was what Malik felt as soon as he stepped off the plane onto the ground of Domino City. He frowned and proceeded to get his stuff back and get to his hotel. When he stepped outside the airport, he felt that tug again only stronger and more urgent. He went to his hotel and checked in. Malik took all his stuff to his room and this time it wasn't his stomach that tugged him, it was his heart. Having enough of this, he marched outside and started to follow his heart._

For a few minutes, Malik thought he was just being pulled around to nowhere in particular. That was until he saw the luscious green grass of the park in front of him. Malik walked in slowly feeling the tugging at his heart increase. It stopped tugging near a crowd of boys that looked about his age with a girl that they all seemed to be trying to get away from. He chuckled at the sight, he found most girls annoying too, they were always trying to seduce him. He grew confused at a boy who looked like he was ten years old who radiated a child-like innocence, was this group babysitting or something? For some reason he was curious towards everything about this group. Apart from that young kid, they were all roughly the same height as him. But then the crowd of people shifted and Malik saw a teen that looked like the young boy, only slightly taller and far more mature.

Malik felt Slifer's, Obelisk's and Ra's powers rise within him, and he sat down on a nearby bench so that he could talk to the gods without rousing too much suspicion. He didn't want to just be standing there, looking like a loon after all.

'Ra? Why do you respond to that guy? Who is he?' Malik thought over to his personal favourite Egyptian God.

'_That is the nameless Pharaoh the Guardians serve. Once he was the great Pharaoh Atemu, made whole by his lover Heba. Now he is yet again, half a soul but goes by the name of Yami.'_

'How do you know this?'

'_Young one, remember that while you are the true holder of our spirits, he was the one to command us 5000 years before now. Our souls weren't fused with Atemu, if you will recall, you held our spirits even then. But you allowed the Pharaoh to wield our powers in times of great danger. It was for only a short while this happened, but a bond was created all the same.'_

'So you know what is going on in his life? I don't know whether to be amazed or slightly jealous.'

'_I knew there was a reason I kept you around. You are amusing child.'_

'What so apart from me hosting your soul, you don't keep me around for my winning personality or my dashing good looks?!' Malik thought over to his friend in a sarcastic tone of mind-voice. 'You wound me with your words Ra!'

'_Remind me to laugh about this later. When you merged spirits with us, you received an influx of memories from your past life. What are the basics of what you remember?'_

'I remember that my name was Qausari Ishtar, and I was the son of a Lord before the name was tarnished by bandits. I escaped the raiders, but my family was not as fortunate. I waked through the desert randomly for days, with no food or water. Just when I was at my limit, I saw the Palace Gates and when I collapsed from the ordeal, some guards sighted me and brought me to the Palace to recuperate. When I woke, the bed I lay on was surrounded by the Pharaoh, High Priests, the supposedly reformed Thief King and the Palace General. They questioned me on what happened and afterwards they took pity on me and allowed me to stay in the Palace. When my strength returned I worked to earn my time there, so that I may stay. After a year or so I became Personal Servant to the Palace General, Jihad Makhbet. I remember nothing after that.'

'_I know Obelisk has told you about the lingering threat of Hafiz. Have you been informed about Yami and Hikari souls?' _At the feeling of recognition from his bonded, Ra continued. _'You are aware then that you are a Hikari soul and you need your Yami to best him. Only your Yami can help you bring us to our full power. I believe I need to inform you more of the danger your father poses, the lust for revenge and for you will only grow inside his heart. He will come after you and you will need all nine Yamis and the other eight Hikaris to keep the world safe. The Pharaoh is clearly the Yami for that little boy. Look at their auras.'_

Malik did, and saw that the taller midget had a gold aura with flecks of black while the even smaller child had a golden aura with flecks of white. 'They _are_ Yami and Hikari, if only it were that easy for me. I can't see my aura, so I could look at my Yami's and I wouldn't know it was him! I am _so_ jealous!'

Ra chuckled amused. _'Well isn't that refreshing? Come you have seen what you needed to, I think you should go back to the hotel now, it's nearing sunset and if there is one pair of Yami and Hikari souls here in this place already, it is possible that there could be another. They would be attracted to the powerful aura you emit and would be stronger and more sensitive at night. None of us in here want you hurt.'_

'Alright Ra, thank you for your concern.' Malik stood up off the bench, but didn't notice the group of people had moved, so when he turned to walk back to where he was staying, he knocked into someone and started falling to the ground. Someone caught his arm though before he hit the floor, and he lifted his head up to meet a narrow pair of dark violet eyes.


	6. Chapter 6

Vessel of the Egyptian Gods

**Alternate Storyline.**

**Warning: Violence, gore, foul language, implied rape and lots and lots of YAOI! Don't like, don't read.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh! This right belongs only to Kazuki Takahashi.**

**Thank you YuGiOhFanatic – Of course you're my favourite reviewer! Why would you think differently, you're my best friend!? This chapter's longer just for you!**

**Also thank you for your review Ern Estine 13624. It means a lot that you took the time to give me your opinion. And, well, here's more.**

*/*\*

_Those beautiful light lavender eyes stared into his own dark violet orbs intensely. There was a tightening in his chest and his skin was tingling, like it was being affected by pins and needles, from where he was holding the tamer version of himself. The mini Mariku was looking at him, with surprise, gratitude and confusion. He guessed, from the looks his friends were giving him, that he was looking at the smaller boy the same way, gratitude excluded. The boy steadied himself and pulled out of his own supporting grip. He averted his eyes and looked down to the ground. His skin was still tingling from where he had touched the smaller version of himself and the feeling was rather pleasant. His look-a-like locked their eyes again and opened his mouth._

"Thank you. That path looks painful to hit with one's body." The stranger said.

"You're welcome; I have to agree that it does look like it would hurt."

"Well thanks again. I have to go now." With that the stranger walked off, but on impulse Mariku reached out his hand towards the other tanned boy and stumbled a few steps towards him. He stopped when he realized what he was doing and abruptly stopped moving and dropped his arm. Thankfully the stranger hadn't turned his head when he was walking away, so he noticed none of this. Mariku didn't move until the other Egyptian had walked out of the park. When the stranger was lost to sight, Mariku turned around slowly to face the quizzical looks of his companions and before a word was uttered, he lashed out at them on reflex.

"What in the seven fucking hells are you staring at me for?! Peeping toms! Honestly, can't a guy get a private moment alone these days?!" Before his stunned friends could muster up something to say, Mariku marched off.

Later that evening, after an uncomfortable dinner with his mother, Mariku found himself sprawled out on the large bed in his even larger room. Inwardly, he was fuming. His mother was never really home after his father had left to run away with an even richer woman. But whenever the bitch was home, she was criticizing every little breath he took! He hated her, it was enough to make him _enjoy_ going to school when she was around. Did he hate her ex-husband so much now that she despised Mariku for merely looking like the man? He was loathed for something completely out of his control?

'_Why am I even thinking about this?! It doesn't matter to me what that old hag thinks, I'm Mariku Tetsusai and the opinion of the woman I once called mother shouldn't be worth shit!'_ Mariku turned onto his stomach and held his breath for a moment, seconds later he released a large bout of air along with his hate and his rage. Mariku's eyes slid closed and he let his thoughts drift to other matters. He came up blank as he instead fell asleep.

_Jihad was walking through his private gardens, with the moon shining directly above him in the clear sky. He moved through the shrubbery and fountains to the seating area in the centre where _he_ would be waiting for him, if his orders had been followed of course. He was sure that his personal servant would have listened to his instructions, and followed them accordingly. Qausari was very loyal to him after all, and he was brought such happiness at this. The majority of servants in the palace were intimidated by the young Palace General, but not Qausari. The former lord feared nobody, not the High Priest Set or the Great Pharaoh himself. No, Qausari stood up to the two of them on a regular basis, usually for some unimportant thing like saying please or thank you. Jihad's servant bowed down to no man, no man other than him. It brought joy to all in the palace, that Jihad could tame such an aggressive and proud person. It brought Jihad even more though._

_Jihad loved his little servant, he knew it. Just as Pharaoh Atemu loved Heba, and High Priest Set loved Jono, Jihad loved Qausari. This pair of Egyptians had bedded before, but they had believed it only to be lust. Jihad now knew better and planned to reveal this to his little love tonight. He prayed to the great Winged Dragon of Ra that his servant felt the same, it just wasn't him to be nervous and it was an unfamiliar and unpleasant experience to be feeling as such. As he finally reached the clearing with all the seats in the centre of his garden, his nervousness increased as he saw Qausari there waiting for him. Jihad, after a minute of standing there frozen, steeled his nerves and walked over to his little love. He mentally face-palmed when he saw that Qausari was sleeping._

'Of course he would lie sleeping, it is the middle of the night and I have kept him waiting for a long while.' _Jihad reached out his hand and gently stroked Qausari's cheek, smiling softly when the smaller shifted in his rest to lean into the touch subconsciously. _'How sweet. What have I done in a life to deserve a picture of beauty and intrigue such as this?'

_Jihad gently shook the former lord awake and focused with every fibre of his being to keep the smile off of his face as Qausari opened his eyes a bit. The light lavender eyes Jihad loved so much remained half-lidded, making the owner of such beautiful eyes appear almost angelic. Everyone in the Palace knew that this was a false statement as Qausari was far from angelic and he definitely didn't count as innocent, Jihad had seen to that long ago._

"_Master Jihad?" Qausari looked around and recalled his earlier instructions, he bowed his head and said, "Forgive me Master Jihad, I did not wish to be asleep at the time you made your presence known," submissively. Something that Jihad particularly loved in this man, his acting technique was divine and made for such amusing entertainment._

"_Qausari, leave the matter be, I am at fault as much as you in this present situation, I should not have delayed my arrival to this place." Qausari raised his head, all traces of the submissive act gone._

"_Well, I suppose it's your fault now, just as it is with everything else." Qausari jested. Jihad shook his head and let out a small chuckle._

"_Oh yes, it's completely me at fault." Jihad retorted. He sighed, all traces of joking dissipated. "You may now be a servant, but it is fine for you to sleep if your master is keeping you waiting."_

_Qausari's eyes widened in surprise and locked with the dark violet orbs of his master. His breath left him; he had never been permitted to stare so intently into the eyes of the one he had fallen for._

'My heart is pounding. It shouldn't feel like this to see the eyes of the one I serve. Once, I was a lord but now I know myself as just a servant. 'Tis forbidden for anything like this to occur. He's the Palace General…'

"_Qausari." Jihad's eyes lit up with something that the personal servant had never before seen in his master. The dark violet eyes he so adored were shining with emotions. Qausari could see slight fear, happiness, contentment and he dared to hope a spark of love._

"_Qausari." Jihad repeated. "Are you aware that while your family home has been torn down, your name hasn't? Your status perhaps, but the name holds firm. Bandits may have broken up your relatives and you, but your name 'Ishtar' is still that of a Lord. You were only made a servant for protection, because you had nowhere else to go. You serve like a servant but the Pharaoh has not stripped you of your rank and title. As far as anyone involved in this matter is concerned, you are for all intents and purposes a lord."_

"_Master Jihad…"_

"_Just Jihad, or Sir if you are speaking formally in the presence of someone ranked higher than either of us." He interrupted. Jihad prayed to Obelisk, Slifer and Ra that the beautiful man in front of him would return his feelings. Qausari prayed for the same reasons, though he had a sneaky suspicion that they would respond to his prayers more than anyone else's._

"_Oh. Jihad then. Jihad, is it true what you say, I am still with my title?" _'Please let it be yes, please let it be yes, please let it be yes!'

"_Of course it is the truth. When have I ever spoken false to you?" Jihad raised an eyebrow, to hide his worry. Did Qausari not trust him?_

"_Never, sorry I questioned your words, but I feel like I may have gone into a phase of shock. I just need a minute, if that would be alright?"_

"_Absolutely, take as long as you need, but be done in at least five minutes." Jihad was pleased when Qausari laughed at his little joke, and that Qausari _did_ trust him._

_Qausari's laugh was music to Jihad's ears, and when his eyes slid closed in enjoyment, he imagined all the ways he could make the younger man laugh._

'Ah Qausari, what have you done to me? Once I was as cold as High Priest Set can be, and I was appearing in the nightmares of the warriors challenging the Pharaoh. Now I feel warmer, less cold to the world and while I believe I can still intimidate my foes, I don't think there would be any true malice behind it. You've changed me Qausari, now I hope to discover if it is for better or worse.'

"_Qausari, earlier this evening I told you to meet with me here so that I might discuss something with you. As we are here now, it is obvious to even the bluntest of men that you have obeyed. The matter with your title was not what I asked you here for. There is something that has been eating away at me for a while and I am unable to think straight while this bears down on me. I believe that if I do not let this thought out into the open, I shall be sent to Zorc Necrophades because I have combusted into flames!"_

"_Jihad what is it, this thought that troubles you?" Qausari placed his hand comfortingly over Jihad's, and the general let out a breath he had been unaware of. The tension rolled out of his shoulders as the young lord gently started stroking the back of Jihad's hand with his thumb, rubbing the finger over the hand repeatedly to soothe the older man._

"_Please Jihad, tell me? You always ask that I trust you and confide in you. For the past year, I have done just that. Do you think we are so different that you cannot find it in yourself to do the same?" Qausari's eyes filled with pain, and Jihad twinged a little in guilt._

"_I find, Qausari, that I trust you more than any other man or woman. I know that this is probably something you will loathe me for, but I will surely die if I keep this to myself much longer!" Jihad paused in the build-up to those three little words to take a deep breath and…_

"_I love you!" Jihad stared at Qausari in shock and absolute delight, but unfortunately the shock was greater and he could only manage a rather pathetic, "W-what?!"_

"_I'm sorry Master Jihad! I never intended to reveal this, but what you were saying was a reflection of how I myself feel. If I keep this to myself any longer, I will surely die! I understand that you of course despise me, but I needed you to know. Hiding my feelings was agony! It killed me everyday to see you and never be able to tell you because of our positions. I refuse to hide my emotions from the world any longer, I love you Jihad!" Tears were streaming down Qausari's beautiful face and then, embarrassed by how he had suddenly confessed, lowered his head to look at his lap. He removed the hand that was previously comforting the Palace General, and moved it to join the other in his lap._

"_You truly mean it Qausari? You honestly love _me_?" Jihad seized the hands of the younger man and held one over his heart and the other over Qausari's._

"_Yes Master Jihad. Truly I do, with all my heart. And the feeling only grows stronger each day."_

_Jihad's heart skipped a beat. _'We are so alike in this. I too love him more each and every day, and now that I know that he loves me just as much as I love him, my fear is gone. Qausari this time it will mean something different."

_Jihad pulled the hand holding Qausari's hand over the younger man's heart, to tilt Qausari's face up, and they locked eyes briefly before their lips were sealed together in a deep kiss. Jihad pulled away quickly to show that this wasn't a thing of lust. Qausari was frozen in his newest position; eyes opened wide and mouth gaping slightly. He moved the hand on his heart to cover Jihad's hand, resting on his cheek. He moved so that light lavender orbs would clash with dark violet ones._

"_Master Jihad?" The younger man inquired._

"_Haven't I already told you not to call me Master? Qausari, your earlier sentence rang true to me aswell. What you were saying was a reflection of how I myself feel, I love you Qausari. I love you more than anything in this world. You have changed me entirely. Once I was as cold as the High Priest Set, to those who don't know the true him. I would spare no second glance to any of the people I pursued, or those I cut down on the battlefield. When it came to executions I felt no remorse or guilt. I am still like that now; it is my duty after all, but it is not how I act around people I see every day. I open up to people now and it's all because of you Qausari. You have done so much for me, and right now I could compare to Mana when she took a fancy to Set's brother."_

"_Well it can't be denied you are acting rather like her, but this is entirely different. I didn't have such strong feelings for Mana." This time it was Qausari who closed the gap between them and both of their eyes slid closed as their lips brushed against each other. They parted but did not open their eyes, until they left the private garden to go back to their room in the Palace. And as the moon reflected off of one of the golden statues, onto the pair, they both smiled and continued the journey back to their chambers hand in hand._

Mariku woke from his sleep in a cold sweat; it was like that every time he had a flashback to his life in Ancient Egypt. None of the scenes in the previous memories had been quite so lovey-dovey though. He walked into his en-suite and turned on the shower. He took off all his clothes and stood under the hot spray. He felt the tension being released from his body and let his mind drift. He replayed the memory in his mind and when the shower had relaxed him enough, he realised that the Egyptian stranger from the park earlier had looked a lot like Qausari.

'_Could he have been my Hikari? It would explain the tingling feeling on my skin that touching him caused. And I've never had a flashback so vivid before now, could he have caused it? I bet the other's noticed it, but I got so riled up at them that I just snapped at them and fled. I'll catch them at school tomorrow and talk to them about it or something. Yeah, no. I guess I'd better call Yami, that smug son of a bitch. Oh how I want to wipe the smirk off his face, it's more irritating then Kaiba's!'_

After stepping out of the shower, drying off and getting dressed, Mariku stormed over to the phone, and dialled the number to the guy he swore went out of his way to make life hell for Mariku.

"_Yeah?" _Yami's voice came from over the phone, he sounded tired.

"Yami, it's Mariku. Do you remember the look of that guy in the park earlier? The one that kinda looked like me?"

"_Mariku?! It's two in the morning; couldn't this have waited a couple more hours?"_

"Probably, but I love a chance to get one up on you. Now answer my question, do you remember what he looked like?"

"_Yeah of course. I felt sorry for the guy; it couldn't have been easy living with a face as horrible as that. I mean, he looked just like you for Ra's sake!"_

"Ha ha very funny. Listen you dolt, that guy may have looked like me but he was a perfect copy of Qausari."

"_Really? So he could be your Hikari? Now I just feel even more sorry for him!"_

"Not in the mood right now Yami, this is serious! And you know when _I_ say that, it's serious! I just had another flashback and boy was it mushy, if _that's_ the deal with this reincarnated from Ancient Egyptian soulmates thing, then I want a refund!"

"_Mariku, it's not that simple. Explain the flashback, what happened?"_

Mariku explained about the dream and Yami agreed that it was overly mushy.

"_Mariku this proves it! That guy in the park was your Hikari! So you'll see him again for sure, or my name wasn't ever Pharaoh Atemu!"_

"I suppose we'll see then." Mariku sighed before hanging up the phone and clambering into bed. With all his energy used in dreaming about that memory though, Mariku's sleep remained dreamless. And with the upcoming nightmare, that was probably a good thing.

**Please review. Ancient Egyptian Mariku was totally OOC but that's the way I like him. (Ah ha ah ha)**


	7. Chapter 7

Vessel of the Egyptian Gods

**Alternate Storyline.**

**Warning: Violence, gore, foul language, implied rape and lots and lots of YAOI! Don't like, don't read.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh! This right belongs only to Kazuki Takahashi.**

**Thank you for your review Ern Estine 13624 and YuGiOhFanatic!**

*/*\*

_He was burned badly from where Ra's attack had hit him 7 years ago. He had summoned up every bit of magic known to him and yet none of his healing spells would work. He sighed; it had always been a long shot. He had never actually thought he could heal an attack from an Egyptian God, only the one who had inflicted the burns could take the accursed pains away. But neither his son, nor the god his pretty son had ordered to hurt him would help Hafiz. So for a while he just lay there in the cool cave he had retreated to, trying to block out the searing pain as his thoughts grew more twisted as they focused on that pretty son of his. He would get his revenge on the boy and then the boy himself. He was determined; nothing was going to stop Hafiz Ishtar from claiming Malik._

At Domino High School on Monday, the teacher in Yami's class made an important announcement. There was going to be an exchange student transferring in. Naturally, nearly all the students started buzzing with excitement. Those who didn't were the Yamis currently in that classroom. While everyone was starting to gossip about what they thought the new classmate would be like, Yami, Mariku, Seto, Bakura and Honda leaned back in their seats, bored.

"Alright guys, this new student is from Egypt, he _does_ speak other languages including English, French and Japanese. Well I'll let him tell you what he wants you to know. Come on in!" The teacher called as she finished her lame introduction. The door opened and in walked a boy about their age at 17, and Yami had to admit that the guy was good looking, but not his type. As the former Pharaoh studied the new boy's golden hair, tanned skin and lavender eyes, he had to take a look back at Mariku. The features were so similar, and then he remembered that he had seen this guy before, at the park yesterday.

He glanced back at his fellow Yamis and could tell that they guessed the same, it was trickier to tell with Seto though, 'Damn bastard.' Yami couldn't help but think in annoyance.

'Yami, are you thinking about Seto again?' Yami couldn't help but feel a little surprised when he heard his Hikari's reply ringing through his head. He should've been used to it by now, but it always came as a surprise when he heard Yuugi replying to his thoughts as he ranted internally. So he always had to restrain himself from jumping whenever he forgot to close the mind-link, that's when he thought the things Yuugi often replied to.

'Yes Yuugi, I was thinking about Seto. There is a new kid transferring in from Egypt, and he looks like a tame version of Mariku. He seems to be the same guy that Anzu bumped into at the park yesterday, I think the other Yamis guessed the same, but it's so hard to tell with Seto because he's so damn emotionless all the freaking time! I'm checking his aura and he seems to be ok but there's something lurking beneath the surface, it's as if I'm drawn to him like a moth to a flame.'

'A tame version of Mariku, can you send me an image?'

Yami deadpanned, only _his_ Hikari would focus on something like that. But when Yuugi sent over an image of his puppy eyes, Yami hastily sent over a picture of this new student. He made sure the link was closed when he had to mentally slap himself for giving in to his adorable soulmate. Yuugi had so much power over a Pharaoh and didn't know it, which made Yami a bit grateful, even though he knew that his partner was far too sweet and innocent to ever take advantage of that.

Yuugi could've sworn he started drooling a little bit over the image of the new student Yami had sent him. That gorgeous caramel skin was smooth and it went very nicely with the soft blonde hair he had. His body was amazing; Yuugi could see firm muscles under the uniform; they were large, but not so big that it looked like the boy cared more about himself than anything. The new guy had striking lavender eyes that even through this image his Yami had sent over, seemed to pierce through Yuugi's body, into his very soul.

'Yuugi,' said boy heard his Yami speaking to him through the link and immediately focused on that, instead of the image of the boy who was everybody's wet dream.

'Yami?'

'Yuugi, tap deeper into the link. You can listen in on his introduction to this class, there's something different about this guy. He seems to be a Hikari from his aura, but when I took a closer look I saw a great darkness. Yuugi, this could be dangerous and if we need to take action, it will be better if you learn about him first-hand, instead of me telling you all I know. You wouldn't understand then.'

'Alright Yami mine, I'll push the link deeper.' Thankfully for Yami none of his fellow Yamis saw him blushing, he never would've heard the end of that. Yuugi felt a strange new emotion coming from his other half, but ignored it to try and delve further into Yami's mind, hopefully if he could keep his concentration up he would be able to see and hear what Yami did.

His concentration failed when he gave a mental cry of joy as his work paid off, so when he fell out of Yami's mind, he blushed and linked back in just in time to hear what the hot new guy said.

"My name is Malik Ishtar, and I've come from Egypt. I have a brother and a sister who I live with and I'm fond of martial arts. I've mastered Karate, Taekwondo, Kung Fu and Jujitsu among others, but those four are my favourites. I do have a temper, so stay the hell away from me or I'll make you regret it." Malik's voice took a darker turn, and Yuugi would've frowned if he was thinking in his own body. _'Why does he want people to stay away so badly? Could it have anything to do with that darkness Yami saw? Maybe he _is_ dangerous!"_

Malik turned to the teacher who hadn't been paying any attention, "There, introduction has been done, cam I go sit down now?" Malik received a nod from the lazy teacher and smirked. Yuugi pulled back from Yami's mind, just as his other half was turning to share a suspicious glance with Mariku.

Malik smirked as he walked to his new seat at the back of the classroom. _'That bitch is so lazy; she didn't even listen when I sounded threatening. Well at least now I won't have Ishizu telling me off for being aggressive, because the teacher hasn't noticed I have been, so she won't know she has to call home!'_

He heard a dark chuckle in his head and his smirk widened slightly as he recognized Zorc. _'Well for someone who has reincarnated into a Hikari, you certainly have your moments in the dark side of things, don't you brat?'_

Malik's smirk faltered at the irritating nickname. _'Well Zorc, for someone who shouldn't be present in my mind during the daytime, you certainly are talkative.'_

'_It's a gift. Now brat, Obelisk has warned you about the threat from your father has he not? You feel scared, angry and all you wish for is revenge, correct?'_

'_Stop it Zorc, I know what you're trying to do. It's not going to work; the Gods of the Light will help me hold you back. You can't win Zorc, we won't let you.'_

Malik had to try very hard to stop himself from shivering, when he heard Zorc's horrible laughter echoing in his head. _'You think you have a chance to stop me brat?! Never will I let you restrain me! I am pure darkness, shaped into one being. The light was so weak that it had to mould into four beings. You may be a creature of the light, but you are still my vessel, and you have always been very easy to possess and control. Now will be no different, because if Ra can do it so can I! You will lose everything in the end _Malik_; I will claim your body as my own!'_

"No Zorc." The frightened vessel whispered. "You won't." He shook a little as he couldn't ignore the chilling cackles that sent tremors running down his spine. And as he looked down at his desk and shook silently, Malik didn't notice the five curious pairs of eyes watching him intently or the lazy teacher as she claimed the lesson was a free period. No he didn't notice, and nobody in that classroom noticed one pair of curious dark violet eyes glaze over in confused concern.

**I'm not sure I like this chapter; I rushed it a lot as I'm going on holiday and may not be able to update. Sorry that this kinda sucks but at least I'm hinting towards the plot a bit. Yeah that explanation's lame, but that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!**


	8. Chapter 8

Vessel of the Egyptian Gods

**Alternate Storyline.**

**Warning: Violence, gore, foul language, implied rape and lots and lots of YAOI! Don't like, don't read. (Also Anzu bashing)**

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh! This right belongs only to Kazuki Takahashi.**

**Thank you Ern Estine 13624 and YuGiOhFanatic for your continued support!**

*/*\*

_Seto was intrigued. He'd never felt such a high level of power from anyone, not even Yami. And he was the Pharaoh, the one who was meant to be the strongest to protect the other Yamis and Hikaris. That new boy, Malik, had a light aura that was mixed with a strong darkness, the opposite of Mariku who had a strong dark aura that also held a great amount of light. The situation was obvious to Seto that they were each other's soulmates. Together their auras completed the other's and the variations of light and dark balancing each other out like that, clearly showed that they were Yami and Hikari to one another, the main colour of the two auras, was purple. But why was this new student stronger than the Pharaoh? It made no sense!_

Everyone was looking at Malik as he walked out the door to his next class. The majority of the class was talking about how hot the new guy was except for the Yamis in that class, they all gathered around their leader's desk to discuss the strange powers they sensed coming off of that boy. So, poor Yami, being as short as he was, was crushed between the larger bodies of Seto, Mariku, Honda and Bakura.

"Did any of you guys notice how strong that guy's aura was? It was ten times more powerful than the Pharaoh's!" Seto couldn't help but think how much of an idiot Honda could be, guessing by the looks on Mariku's and Bakura's faces they agreed.

"Yes Honda, I noticed. I can't believe that someone who is clearly a _Hikari_ can have more power than I! I am the Yami of the Millennium Puzzle, the strongest Millennium Item; therefore I should be the strongest being on this planet!" _'My cousin always was arrogant, but never this strongly. Could he be worried about Malik? Is the Great _Pharaoh_ afraid of his power?' _Now Seto may have found his infuriating cousin being scared incredibly amusing, but if someone as strong as Yami was afraid of the new Ishtar kid, then Seto thought that this newly discovered Hikari may be cause for concern.

Mariku however was feeling concerned and confused, Malik felt familiar to him in a way he had never felt before. It couldn't be explained, but he felt the aura of being a Yami lighten in the encounters they had had. And he looked so much like Qausari…

Mariku shook his head slightly to rid himself of these thoughts. Malik's aura was wild, dangerous and powerful. If all of the Yamis and Hikaris combined, their powers combined wouldn't be anywhere near to the strength of the new Ishtar's. Ishtar, that name rang a bell.

"Didn't the teacher say that the new brat's name was Ishtar?" Bakura stood there, arms crossed over his chest, looking unimpressed.

"Yeah, what of it 'Kura?"

"Honda, only Ryou can call me that! And only because I'm not allowed to beat the ever living shit out of him!" Bakura had a pretty mean right hook, so Honda took a step back and raised his hands in surrender.

"Ah _'Kura,_ you're as bad as Tetsusai over here with the name 'Riku." Yami groaned, only his cousin would rile up these two psychopaths.

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" Mariku and Bakura snapped, glaring at the ever so smug CEO. They then realised they had said the exact same thing at the same time, looked at each other, and grinned. They were dangerous expressions that had Honda and Yami worried. Seto was barely concerned, he was confident enough in his own power as a former High Priest of Ancient Egypt, that he didn't believe he could be harmed by a mere thief and a palace general he himself had ordered about.

And as usual, when it came to these things, Seto was right. Bakura would have been standing against a powerful High Priest and the Pharaoh, so he was reluctant to engage in combat. And Mariku was cursed, with his reincarnation from the always loyal Jihad, he was unable to cause Seto or Yami any actual harm, and if he wasn't going to leave a mark thanks to Jihad's lingering spirit, he didn't see a point in trying to hit something he would repel his own body from.

Honda, not being the sharpest knife, saw an opportunity from the defeatist scowls on the psycho's faces, to tease the hostile duo. "Hey 'Kura!" Bakura snarled.

"What you foolish jackass?! What could you possibly have to say to me?! And it's _Ba_kura! Get it right!"

Honda sniggered, "Earlier you said that you weren't allowed to 'beat the ever living shit out of' Ryou, and implied that you could beat the crap out of me. Looks like you can't even manage _that_ after all."

Bakura lunged and Mariku and Seto caught him round the waist, holding him back from Honda, even if they thought that Hiroto kind of deserved it and would've helped, Yami would have stopped them.

"Can we please get back to the matter at hand, Malik could be trouble!" Yami was two seconds away from unleashing his Shadow Magic. The other Yamis in the class sensed the increasing levels of power around their leader's aura and calmed down instantly.

"Thank you, now from what I could tell even if we found the rest of the Yamis and Hikaris and combined our forces, we still wouldn't stand a chance if Malik let loose his power. So I suggest that we get him onto our side, before he sees a reason to harm any of us. Do any of you have any ideas in how to go about this?"

Since he could tell that the reincarnated Pharaoh had calmed down a lot, Seto spoke up. "As Yamis we are rather anti-social, so I think we should ask our Hikaris to befriend him. I hope all of you remember how much light Ishtar had in his aura, it's clear to anyone with half a brain that he's a Hikari. So in reason, he should react well to the presence of other Hikaris, who can tell him about the situation he has been born into."

"But cousin, he has a stronger power than you," Seto scowled at Yami's comment, "and it took five years to get you to start believing in what we were telling you. How do we know that he won't act the same way?"

"Oh please Pharaoh, anyone with powers as strong as that Ishtar dude is going to know something's different about him. Most likely situation is that he believes what we tell him because it is the only thing that would make sense!" Honda sweat-dropped at the four faces deadpanning at him.

'_It surprises even _me _sometimes how much of an imbecile Honda can be.'_ Seto shook his head and reminded the other four Yamis that class had finished and that if they didn't hurry soon they would be late. The five Yamis sped out of the classroom to their next lesson with all the known Hikaris, only to find that when they got there, that Malik was in this class too. He was sat in the seat next to where Mariku sat, which had previously been empty. And Mariku gulped, this Ishtar kid was so like Qausari, he remembered that tingling feeling he got from touching his skin yesterday in the park. He shook the memory out of his head and stalked over to his desk next to the new Ishtar kid.

"Hey." Mariku was sitting in his seat and frowned when he got no response from his new desk-mate. Malik just kept looking at the teacher, and if Mariku hadn't been staring and noticed the glazed over look in Malik's pretty eyes, Mariku could've been fooled into thinking that the new guy was actually _paying attention_ to the teacher. But he was seeing the bored expression on Malik's face so he tried again.

"Hello, Ishtar." If Mariku hadn't been glaring at the boy sitting next to him he would've noticed the slight flinch Malik gave.

"Ishtar brat, are you deaf?" The rich young Tetsusai was about ready to throttle Malik.

"No I'm not deaf. I did hear you, I was just ignoring you. You may have stopped me from hitting the ground in the park yesterday, but you don't look like someone I would particularly enjoy talking to." Mariku was fuming, what was with this kid? It was like he was freaking bipolar!

"Hey as you pointed out, I saved you from eating dirt yesterday so I…"

"Stopped me from eating dirt, yes. Saved me? No."

"Didn't your mother ever teach you not to interrupt _Malik_?"

"No." And with that Malik refused to respond to anything Mariku tried, to get him to talk with him. This left Mariku confused, so the crazier looking blonde took a peek at Malik's aura and saw that it was darker than it had previously been.

'_So he doesn't enjoy talking about his mother? Then he _must_ be my Hikari, he's got problems with his parents like I have with mine. But I wonder what happened with his mother, surely someone with enough maternal instincts to bear a child would teach said child manners.'_ Then Mariku contradicted himself as he thought about his own mum. _'Feh. Maybe his mum's just a bitch like mine, but he _has_ to be the reincarnated soul of Qausari. And Qausari's mother died after conceiving him, and when he grew up, he was separated from his family by bandits. Is Malik's mother dead? Is that why he won't talk to me now? Poor guy, his family probably left him at an orphanage or he ran away from a burglar. That would prove he _is_ Qausari. Grr, why do I care? It's not been confirmed that _he's_ my other half yet, for all I know he could be some freaky doppelganger. But his aura and how he looks and acts… Malik's _got_ to be Qausari's reincarnation. He has to be.'_


	9. Chapter 9

Vessel of the Egyptian Gods

**Alternate Storyline.**

**Warning: Violence, gore, foul language. implied rape, Anzu bashing and lots and lots of YAOI! Don't like, don't read.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh! This right belongs only to Kazuki Takahashi.**

**Thank you YuGiOhFanatic and Ern Estine 13624 for your reviews.**

*/*\*

_The group of Yamis and Hikaris gathered round their usual table in the lunch hall. They were all discussing ways to get closer to Malik and discover more about his powerful aura. They weren't coming up with many good ideas so far and Bakura was bored. He understood that it could be dangerous to let Malik roam free around the school with nobody around him to check up on him, but he only wanted to be creeping around the city, pick-pocketing people. Yami suggested that since they believed Malik to be a Hikari due to the amount of light in his aura, that the Hikaris should supervise him. Bakura growled and Seto yelled that there was no way in hell that he was going to let Jou put himself in danger by staying by a possible danger. Honda and Bakura had to agree, they didn't want Otogi or Ryou in danger either._

"Uh, Pharaoh this is ridiculous. Why not just let me follow him and get a feel for his routine? I'll report back to you and I can do this without getting noticed. You know that I can!"

"Bakura. It's a good idea, but I think we should get him on our side instead of just knowing whether he's dangerous to us or not. We already know that he is powerful, we've seen his aura. No we need him to fight with us; he fits a part of the prophecy. _He, who exceeds the Pharaoh old, shall meet with powerful forces known from legends told. An aura shines dark and again it shines bright, the power of this one will lead to the light._ That part of the prophecy fits with him, he has power that exceeds even mine! I'm not sure about the powerful forces mentioned in stories, but his aura shines with the light but it conflicts greatly with the dark. Again, I have no clue about the last part."

"Wow Yami! I think that's the most you've ever said to Bakura without yelling at him." Yuugi giggled and Yami gaped. He hadn't known his Hikari would find something like that amusing. He blushed a little and hung his head, Yuugi found teasing him funny. His Hikari was so cute when he giggled like that.

"Ah cousin, are you embarrassed? It's only natural; I mean he _is_ your sou…"

"Seto I think that's enough! We were discussing Malik remember?"

Yami thanked Ra that Yugi had the innocence of a child, and didn't pursue the comment Seto was about to make. Yami muttered something horrible about Seto under his breath, he knew that he was going to say something about Yuugi being his soulmate. Yuugi didn't need to know about that right now. He had his school stuff to worry about.

The bell rang for the end of lunch and the Hikaris all shot towards their shared class, and the Yamis ran off to theirs. When the four light halves reached History they saw who the Yamis had told them was Malik. They're breath left them quickly. Malik was gorgeous! Yuugi had seen a glimpse of him before, through Yami's eyes but that image hadn't done the guy justice.

His smooth caramel skin contrasted greatly with his blonde hair but the combination worked amazingly on him. He had light lavender eyes that seemed to look right into a person's very soul and through his uniform the Hikaris could all see some muscle. They could tell that he was strong enough to defend himself, but his muscles didn't bulge hideously. The four Hikaris drooled slightly as they walked to the cluster of tables. Otogi was a little jealous though, that new Egyptian student was hotter than _him_.

The class passed by quickly, the teacher spouting some nonsense about Ancient Egypt that had the five Hikaris in class frowning. They knew that they wouldn't ever want anyone outside the Yamis and Hikaris to know the truth about the country back then, but it still ticked them off that they disregarded the evidence so obviously right in front of them, that nobody even suspected a government conspiracy theory.

The bell rang and everyone evacuated the classroom. Classes passed by quickly, and no other Yamis or Hikaris shared a class with Malik. At the end of the day, the group of Yamis and Hikaris were walking to the exit and they saw Malik on his phone. They all assumed that he got a bad text from somebody because his pretty face was deformed by a snarl.

*/*\*

Malik was indeed snarling at the text he had received from his family. Obelisk and the others had been right, Hafiz was still alive! Malik hadn't thought that Hafiz would _dare_ try something like this though.

Malik re-read the text he had been sent by his father. Each time he read it, his anger at the older Ishtar grew. He'd known that Hafiz was despicable, as was evidenced by what the Ishtar bastard had done to Malik when he was ten.

He scanned the words one last time and he felt his anger release into his aura, producing a warm feeling behind his eyes. He closed his eyes, in case anybody noticed something strange.

_When the blood drips from the fingertips of a cold body,_

_The maiden screams fearfully._

_Holding the knife covered in the life essence of a man,_

_The blood shall drip to her fingertips and the life of a once pure woman shall disappear._

_And the body of the man shall rise,_

_Rise to forge his path._

_Surely you must remember this poem from your scriptures Malik. But it's been so long since you were loyal to your duty as a Guardian; it wouldn't surprise me if you repressed your memories. Well your brother and your sister do continue to remember all that I have taught them. I'd let you talk to them but I'm afraid that you'd endanger your little secret if you were angered more than how I'm about to enrage you._

_This poem fits you perfectly, don't you agree Malik? You must see that you play the role of that woman while I act the part of that man. You turned around and stabbed me in the back after all I'd done for you. But when this is all over Malik, you shall fall just as the woman did and I shall forward on through my life. Your brother and sister agree._

The warm feeling behind Malik's eyes grew hotter and his eyes opened, unable to hide the surge of power running through his body, melding with his anger.

He stormed off, back to his hotel and didn't notice the shocked faces of the group waiting by the gates, who had all just witness his eyes flash gold.

*/*\*

Instead of going back to his hotel, Malik had taken a walk around the city, to grow more familiar with the layout of the land. It was dark and Malik was walking back through the park to get back to where he was staying. It was dark and he hurried but slowed down again when he heard the sounds of someone crying out in pain. He turned to where he heard the sounds and saw a white haired boy, with pale skin and cute wide brown eyes.

The boy was being knocked around by a gang of thugs and his skin was marked with bruises and blood. Malik called out to the thugs and saw a beefy old brute who posed as the leader. His face bulged and he was a more disgusting sight than a bucket full of blood mixed in with guts. Malik held back the bile from spewing all over the thug's face.

"Why Sir, you're beating this young boy up… why?"

"Look pretty boy, we're just having some fun over here with this kid. Move along unless you want to join in on the hurt. You won't see us complaining." The boss thug's eyes roamed over Malik's body obviously and the young Ishtar shivered in disgust.

"I won't move, nor will I join in on the 'fun' as you so delicately put it." He shook his head, "No I think I'll just beat the shit out of you three." He turned to the boy on the ground. "You might want to move out of the way now."

The beaten up boy crawled out of the way and watched with awed eyes as Malik ducked under a punch and twisted his body intricately to spin around and kick the other thugs in the chest. Malik rolled under the final thug's legs and placed a hand on one of his shoulders. A strong tanned hand punched the thug hard in the face until he heard a sickening crack and the thug's jaw angled horribly. The brute fell onto his back when Malik released his grip on the thug's shoulder.

"You can come out now, Hikari. Shouldn't you're Yami be here to protect you? If I were you, I'd give him a good scolding at school tomorrow. Do you need to call someone to come get you? You can borrow my phone if you need to." Malik smiled reassuringly at the pale boy and even though he was confused the boy smiled back weakly.

"I'd like to go to the hospital, but my house is just over there." The boy nodded his head to the exit of the park and Malik helped the boy onto his feet. "There is someone there who can take me there. Thank you…?"

"Malik, I would've hoped you remembered from History class earlier. I feel so wounded." Malik placed a hand over his heart jokingly and the boy giggled.

"Well, thank you Malik. I'm Ryou."

"Ok Ryou, I'll hopefully see you in classes tomorrow."7

"Sounds good." Ryou waved goodbye and walked off to his house with a slight limp. Malik walked back to the hotel and as Ryou slept in bed next to Bakura that night, he couldn't help but be confused by Malik's behaviour earlier in the day. First he seemed really cold and kind of like an asshole, then there was the incident with his weird gold glowing eyes, and now he seemed like a really good guy. Ryou couldn't help but wonder as he snuggled into Bakura's arms.

*/*\*

Hafiz was lurking in the shadows, as he heard his name called. It was a woman's voice and very soft but with a hint of defiance. A man's deep tones also called out to him and he stepped out of the dark.

"Ishizu, Odeon. What a surprise finished your chores already?"

"Yes Master Hafiz." The two bowed their heads respectfully. Hafiz took a look at the phone he had used to contact his son. He knew that the message would rattle Malik and that was precisely what he needed to happen for his plan to own the boy.

"Now now, you two. No need to bow down to me. Raise your heads." They did and Hafiz smirked as he looked into two pairs of pitch black eyes.


	10. Chapter 10

Vessel of the Egyptian Gods

**Alternate Storyline.**

**Warnings: Violence, gore, foul language, implied rape, Anzu bashing and lots and lots of YAOI! Don't like don't read.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh!**

**Thank you Ern Estine 13624 and YuGiOhFanatic for your reviews.**

*/*\*

_Ryou woke up the next morning in Bakura's arms like always. He remembered last night's beating and how Malik had saved him from those thugs. He frowned at how Malik had known that Ryou was a Hikari, and that he had a Yami. He pushed the thoughts out of his head to discuss with the group later and wriggled out of Bakura's hold to go down to the kitchen and make breakfast for the two of them._

Half an hour later, Bakura came downstairs and was welcomed to the sight of sausages, bacon, eggs, toast and hash browns. He smiled. _'Ryou, you're too good to me.'_

He felt Ryou smile over the link and knew that his precious Hikari was happy. Ryou came out of the kitchen and into the dining room, holding out a cup of coffee for Bakura with a big smile on his face. Nobody said anything until Bakura had guzzled down his drink, disregarding the fact that it was piping hot still.

"Did you sleep well 'Kura?"

Bakura smiled tenderly at his Hikari and replied that he did. Everybody thought that he was a total asshole to Ryou at home, acting decently at school. If they could've seen how the two acted now, their jaws would drop. Ever since Ryou had taken Bakura in, after his parents had kicked him out, the two shared an even closer bond than that of mere Yamis and Hikaris.

Bakura may not seem like it, but he could be kind and Ryou thrived in the fact that it was only him Bakura wasn't a jerk to. He'd never let his Yami know, but he had fallen for him, _hard_.

Ryou sighed and shook his head of these thoughts, and settled down at the table, across from Bakura so that they could eat together before school. Ryou would tell the group what he thought about Malik then.

*/*\*

Bakura slumped in his seat in homeroom. He had wanted to sit next to his Hikari, but Ryou had been paired with Yuugi and Bakura was stuck with Mariku. The two of them were observing Malik and his body's reactions to certain things. So far Malik had been infuriatingly calm about everything. When they'd thrown rolled up bits of paper at him and nearly got him in the eye, he'd not even flinched he just stayed calm and ignored it as if nothing had happened. Next they tried spit wads and they got stuck in his hair. Malik just pulled a tissue out of his pocket and wiped them out before throwing them in the bin.

Lunchtime came, the classes passing by quickly. The group made their way over to their usual table and groaned when they noticed Anzu sitting there. She heard footsteps coming and looked up to see her friends. She waved them over quickly, oblivious to how much they wanted to run as far away as they could. She smiled when they sat down in a circle next to her and continued to smile even when some of them had to leave.

Seto used his personal phone to send a text to his work phone and used that as an excuse to 'go to work.'

Jou said he was hungry and walked up to the cafeteria line and then slipped out the side doors and barrelled down the corridors.

Yuugi and Ryou both had to go to the toilet. They ended up jogging down the halls to the staircase.

Yami had to meet with a teacher. He fake groaned and said that it was probably another congratulations on his exceptional grades. As soon as he was sure he was out of Anzu's sight, he bolted for the same staircase Ryou and Yuugi had taken.

Bakura wanted to go and pick the pockets of someone, he was a kleptomaniac so after he robbed the headmaster of his wallet and phone, he scaled the walls outside of the school.

Honda and Otogi had clubs. Otogi had his Dungeon Dice Monsters meeting the previous day and Honda was no longer the school janitor so they both headed up a flight of stairs.

Mariku was the captain for most of the sports teams in school and said he had to go show his teammates what they were doing for practice today. After he showed his team the basics of what they had to do, he raced for the stairs.

The gang all met up at the roof, Yuugi and Ryou panting for breath. Yami held his Hikari's arms to calm him down and Yuugi gifted his darker half with a smile that made everyone want to grin, though only the Hikaris and Yami did.

"Okay so we've gotten away from that slutty, friendship bitch. Now what?"

"Nicely put 'Riku." A smirk appeared on Bakura's face but it was quickly swept away to a scowl.

"Shut it kitty 'Kura. I wasn't talking to you. I was _actually_ asking the… Pharaoh. What the hell?"

"Huh?" _'Well isn't Jou just the height of intelligence?' _Bakura thought sarcastically.

'_I love him as my friend and fellow Hikari, but he's about as smart as Honda is, Yami.'_

'_Shit! I thought the link was closed!'_

'_Nope!'_ Bakura made sure the mind link was definitely closed so he could mentally smile at Ryou's innocent giggle. _'Damn I have it bad.'_

"Mutt, take a look at Yami, he's leaning on the rails, and he's tense and staring at one particular spot on the ground. What does this tell you?" Sometimes every Yami had to wonder how the genius Seto Kaiba put up with the dumb Katsuya Jounouchi.

"Damn it Kaiba! I'm not a dog!"

"Keep telling yourself that mutt." Seto patted Jou's head for good measure, as one would do for a puppy. Jou growled and batted the hand away but didn't comment, it would only lead to a big fight with his arrogant Yami, and there was a good friend of his who looked worried about something.

The Hikaris crowded around Yami worriedly and Yuugi rested his hand on Yami's shoulder. "Yami?"

"Look Yuugi." Yami pointed to a spot on the ground and the Hikaris gasped when they saw what had him concerned. The Yamis then came over to check it out and they were able to stifle their gasps when they saw Malik staring directly at them.

Upon closer inspection though, they noticed that Malik seemed to be staring off into space, his eyes were blank and his aura had changed to a defensive invisible wall. Malik raised his hand towards them and it glowed purple and silver. Mariku gasped and Bakura turned to see that he was in the same position as Malik. His eyes were empty, completely devoid of any emotion and his aura had changed to an invisible wall, blocking anything from getting near him and no magic could reach him. Mariku raised his arm and his hand started to glow the same colour as Malik's.

"Uh guys? I think something broke Mariku." Everyone looked to Bakura and saw him pointing to the tanned Yami. They gasped and Honda reached out a hand to try and shake him out of it. The other Yamis tried to warn him not to get to close but Honda had already made contact with the aura barrier around Mariku. An electric shock ran through Honda's body and he was shoved back by an invisible force onto Otogi. Otogi looked pretty pleased with the position until Honda's knee shifted and it pressed against his crotch area. Otogi winced but the rest of the group ignored him to try and get through to Mariku.

"Hey man, snap out of it." As a Hikari this had Jou more worried than his Yami was so he figured it was worth as shot to try and talk to him.

Mariku's head snapped around and his dead eyes met with Malik's. He started mumbling things and Bakura could barely make out the words, Ra, Hafiz, Zorc, Odeon, and Ishizu. Then some words were spoken in Arabic and Bakura lost interest in trying to hear words he couldn't understand.

Five minutes later, Mariku snapped out of his trance like state and the glow around his hand vanished. He spun his head around as if searching for something. He looked down at the ground where Malik was and the Yamis and Hikaris followed his line of sight. They weren't all that surprised to see that Malik was gone, that boy was weird down to the very core, even by Shadow wielders standards. The rest of the group turned away and sat down in a circle, but Mariku stayed and kept his eyes fixed on the spot where Malik had last been. Nobody paid him any mind anymore, he did crazy stuff all the time, and if he wanted to stare at where his Hikari had been then they'd let him stare.

*/*\*

Malik ran out of the school gates, his only focus right now on getting back to the hotel. He heard concerned whispers in the back of his head but he didn't listen to the Gods until he'd burst through the doors of his room and thrown himself face down on the bed, hugging his pillow for dear life.

'_Malik, what happened earlier? We were barred from your mind for a while; we couldn't contact you at all.'_

'Horakhty, that's just the problem. _I_ don't know myself. For a moment I just… For a while there, I just felt another presence in my mind, it was dark but not a threat. It seemed almost comforting.'

'_It was probably your Yami, young one. Can you tell us if you got a greater sense from this presence?'_

'It was weird Obelisk. I took a look at the guy's aura. It was purple with silver etched into it very lightly. I went deeper into the connection with him and he looked a lot like me.'

'_Then it _is_ your Yami for certain Malik. Try and get closer to that group he is a part of. They are more Yamis and Hikaris and can help you against Hafiz.' _Malik smiled at how Horakhty was still much like a mother to him, he enjoyed talking with her.

'There's also been some trouble from Zorc. He wants to possess me and use my body to channel his powers. I'm afraid I'm not strong enough to hold him back for much longer. What if he is set free? What will happen to the world?'

'_Malik.' _Ra rumbled comfortingly. _'You will always have the strength to fight back as long as we are with you. And in case you've forgotten, we're bonded for eternity. We were standing beside you in Ancient Egypt and we shall continue to stay by your side now. And with the additional support from your Yami and the other Yami and Hikari souls, you shall never enter a battle alone. We will get through this together.'_

'Thank you Ra. I needed that, but I'm still a little afraid.'

'_We'd be worried if you weren't young Ishtar.'_

'Slifer are you ever going to call me by my real name? You too Obelisk?'

Obelisk grumbled that maybe if it ever stopped being fun teasing him he would. Slifer chuckled deep in his throat. _'I must agree with Obelisk, if we ever tire of teasing you, we will stop with the name calling.'_

'So basically, you're not ever going to call me by my real name?'

'_Nope!'_ Was the reply from the red and blue gods. Malik pouted and the four light gods laughed.

*/*\*

Mariku and Bakura were walking around the park after school. Malik hadn't been seen after that weird incident at lunch and the group was getting together at Yuugi's house to discuss how to get closer to the guy to get Malik on their side. Mariku wasn't sure how, but he had this weird gut feeling that Malik was on their side, but he just wasn't going to let them now that yet.

They got to Yuugi's house and Yami was there to let them in. He scowled at them, "You're late."

Bakura shrugged nonchalantly and Mariku scowled right back at Yami, hating the way the Pharaoh looked down on him all the time. They were late by two minutes! It wasn't that big a deal!

Yami stepped aside to let the two of them in and the three Yamis walked into the living room where everybody else had gathered already. Bakura sped over to Ryou and quickly sat next to his Hikari pushing Yuugi out of the way. Yami glared at him and Bakura just smirked back. The leader of the Yamis and Hikaris was about to yell at him when Yuugi's soft, sweet voice stopped him from doing so.

"Please don't Yami, Bakura just wants to sit next to his light half; everyone else is." Yuugi shot Mariku a sympathetic glance and received a glare. "And I don't mind anyway, I'd love to sit next to you Yami. But please fight with Bakura some other time? We're here to discuss Malik and that's what we should do." Yami stopped his thoughts from wanting to hurt Bakura and instead focused on the topic Yuugi had suggested.

"Right, well after what happened earlier with Malik and Mariku I think it's safe to say that it's been confirmed. Malik is Mariku's Hikari. That display sounds exactly like how we created the mind link with one another."

Mariku was shocked for a second, nobody had told him that was how the link was established! But then he wondered how he hadn't guessed it was the link before. "That explains a lot! I heard his voice saying something to me but it was kind of fuzzy and I could only make part of what he was saying out. He was saying stuff about his brother and his sister taken by his father and something about the Egyptian Gods."

"Holy Ra!" The Yamis realized why Yami said that but the Hikaris were left in the dark.

"What is it Yami? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong Yuugi. It's an Egyptian God, the Winged Dragon of Ra. The others are Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor, Horakhty the Creator God of Light and Zorc Necrophades, but the Ancient Egyptians just referred to him as the Dark One. Mariku when you called me about one of your latest visions, the one where Qausari kissed Jihad and there were those big figures that you couldn't make out, those figures must have been the Gods!"

Everyone turned to look at him and Mariku gave them a brief explanation of his memory. Seto nodded. "That definitely sounds like the five Gods. Zorc would be the one hiding in the shadows and the others would be the ones shielded from mortal eyes in the light."

"So Malik has some sort of connection to the Gods?"

"Otogi I think that has to be the case. In my memory, the Gods seemed closely linked to Qausari and Malik is his reincarnation, so Malik might share the same bond that Qausari had with the Gods, if not an even stronger one."

"Huh, why's that Mariku?"

"Well Honda, we are the first reincarnations from Ancient Egypt, and that was 5000 years ago. Now 5 millenniums seems like a long time to wait, just to come into this world. So if the Gods have bonded with Malik as some sort of link to this mortal plane, then they may have forged a stronger link to ensure that Malik sticks around longer, so then the Gods can stay on this world longer."

Jou scratched his head confusedly and Seto couldn't help but think that he was adorable. Seto mentally blushed and was ever so thankful that he had remembered to close the link. Jou stopped scratching and pointed both of his index fingers at Yami and Mariku. "Even if 5000 years is a long time to wait to set foot in this realm, why would they have to form a stronger bond with Malik then they did with Qausari?"

Yami's face went blank and Mariku gulped as the Shadow Wielders all turned to him for an answer. "They may have had to do that, because Qausari was murdered." For some reason Mariku couldn't quite explain, he felt the back of his eyes start stinging. He wondered if it was Jihad's lingering spirit wishing to shed tears for his lost love, but was unable to properly without a body of his own to control.

"Ok, I think this is a good time for a change of topic." Ryou clapped his hands together to break the silence. "After what happened earlier, it's clear that Malik must know that something weird is going on. But I think he already knew about Hikaris and Yamis." Everyone turned to him in question and Ryou told them about what had happened in the park and what Malik had said the other night. By the end of it the group was stunned and Bakura was clutching onto Ryou's arms tightly.

"Why didn't you tell me that you'd been beaten up? I would've - !"

"Found those bastards and crushed their skulls in, I know Bakura. But my healing magic kicked in while I was walking home. The pain disappeared almost instantly and the bruises faded quickly. Malik had already dealt with the guys so I didn't think there was a point in encouraging you to be violent."

"Ryou, you're about 15 years too late for that." Mariku smirked, he and Bakura had grown up together and Mariku faintly remembered the awful two year old's tantrums.

Bakura gave him the finger and said, "Fuck you 'Riku!"

Mariku growled at the annoying nickname. "Right back at you kitty 'Kura!"

Bakura snarled and pounced on Mariku. The two started rolling around on the floor and the others scrambled onto the sofas to avoid getting caught in their little rough and tumble game. Thunder clashed outside and the Hikaris jumped while the Yamis were surprised at how easily scared their Hikaris were.

Jou started placing bets on Mariku while Ryou, Honda and Yuugi thought Bakura would win. Otogi also thought that Bakura would triumph but Seto and Yami both thought Mariku would win.

Outside in the thunderstorm there was a lithe tanned figure with his blonde hair clinging to his neck and face. He blinked his light lavender eyes rapidly to keep the rain out and silently placed his bet on who he thought would win.

He'd been taught by the Gods how to control the link earlier and he was putting it to good use now. So as he thought, _I have faith that you will win, my Yami_, Mariku didn't hear and get distracted from his fight.

Malik smiled and turned away back to his hotel, unknowing of the four eyes watching his every move. Two, a pitch black colour that had once been a nice greenish gold shade, and the other two being a malevolent plum.

Hafiz chuckled and whispered something to Odeon who whipped out a mobile phone and started dialling Ishizu. They got into a conversation quickly but Hafiz paid his servants no attention, his eyes following Malik's every move as he trudged through the muddy ground of the park.

"Soon Malik." He whispered to nothing in particular. "Soon you will be mine again. It's going to be ever so fun!"

The youngest Ishtar kept on his way back to where he was staying, completely unaware of the two malicious schemes, intertwining to get at him.


	11. Chapter 11

Vessel of the Egyptian Gods

**Alternate Storyline.**

**Warnings: Violence, gore, foul language, implied rape, Anzu bashing and lots and lots of YAOI! Don't like, don't read.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own YuGiOh… for now.**

**Thank you for reviewing Ern Estine 13624 and YuGiOhFanatic!**

*/*\*

_Otogi and Honda were walking home from the Kame Game shop hand in hand, a blush covering Otogi's face and Honda's obliviousness leading him to believe it was just a cold from the rain. They were both thinking about what had been said of Malik, could he already know about Yamis and Hikaris? Know that he was a Hikari himself? If he did, it might make their job easier, all the Hikaris and a few of the Yamis were supposed to get closer to Malik and try to befriend him, get to know him._

Ryou had said earlier, after Mariku and Bakura had stopped fighting – with Mariku coming out on top, that he'd glimpsed into the future and seen an ultimate darkness ahead. He'd felt some strange urges, all revolving around Malik; hate, lust, anger, pain. If Malik was the target for such things then the group wasn't sure if it was really a good idea to get close to him, but Yami and Yuugi had insisted that they should still get him on their side. He may be the target for these horrible emotions but he clearly had enough power to deal with it and they still believed that Malik's powers would be best working for them.

Bakura had said that was stupid and Seto had reluctantly agreed. Jou also thought it was a silly idea and Honda and Otogi had sided with them. Yami and Yuugi argued, a surprising fierceness fighting them from Yuugi. Nobody had expected that he could be so not innocent, least of all Yuugi. He'd blushed when the shouting died down and held his arms behind his back, staring at his shoes. Thankfully for Yami, because Yuugi was looking down, he hadn't noticed Yami's blush at his Hikari being so adorable. The rest had chuckled and the sounds only increased when Yuugi stared at them in question. Mariku had been staying quiet through the whole thing though, eyes empty and staring off into space.

The pair of Yami and Hikari souls reached the Black Crown game shop and Honda was left walking home on his own. He thought he heard a rustling in the bushes nearby, but figured it was just a bird trying to hide from the rain. He heard it again, getting closer; and spun round.

"Anyone there?" When nobody answered, Honda clenched his hands into fists and stalked towards the bushes. There was a rustling again behind him and Honda turned on his heel and ran. He wasn't going to get into a fight when he knew nothing about his opponent. He could've guessed that the guy was fast from how quickly he'd moved from hiding behind one bush to the next.

But that seemed to be all that the guy was doing, hiding. So if the guy in the bushes wasn't going to attack Honda, then Honda wasn't going to attack the guy in the bushes. He set off to his home again at a slightly faster pace than before. When he turned the corner, he broke into a run, splashing through puddles but making sure he was somewhere safe and out of the rain soon.

The person in the bushes looked after Honda with cold black eyes and whipped out a mobile phone. "Master Hafiz, the one you told me to watch has left his Hikari now. What do you want me to do?"

"Come back Ishizu, and tell me what you've seen. We shall move on from there."

"Of course." Ishizu closed the phone and ran into the night towards her father's base of operations.

*/*\*

Jounouchi tossed and turned in his bed, caught in an awful memory. It was just before he remembered meeting Seth in Ancient Egypt.

_Jono was sprinting away from the market, he'd found a pouch of golden coins on the floor and couldn't resist the temptation. How was he supposed to know that they belonged to a Palace Guard?_

_He was nearly on the outskirts of the town when he stumbled and tripped over a rock. He couldn't find the strength in his arms to get up again, so he just lay there, waiting to see what the Guards would do. They rolled him over onto his back and pointed spears and blades at his heart, neck and at his wrists. He didn't bother struggling, he was too exhausted from the beating he'd received from his father earlier, the only reason he'd come into the marketplace was to see if he could find any scraps of food lying around. He hadn't eaten in the past three days, and the brutal treatment he suffered at home didn't help things._

_The Guards stomped down on some of his bruises and slashed his scars to reopen them. Jono screamed in pain and tried to remember how loving his mother had been to him before father had killed her. He tried to think of how loving her embrace had been and how safe he'd felt in her arms. He thought about his sister and how kind she'd been, how she had been well on her way to being a fully grown woman. Serine had always been beautiful, and the thugs that had taken her innocence and her life before her time thought so too. He was trying to picture their faces before his thoughts were interrupted by the furious stomping on his wounds. He screamed again and threw his head back, digging into the sand as a natural instinct to try and escape the pain._

"_Hmm, aren't you a pretty one?" The Guard ranked higher than the others sneered at Jono. "What do you think boys? We have been denied such pleasures for so long a time."_

"_You are not forbidden from pleasuring one's self in intimate ways you bastard." Jono gritted out as best as he could with one of the Guards slowly crushing his neck. "You're just so terribly unappealing that nobody _wants_ to lay in bed you." Jono took a small amount of satisfaction in the fact that he could always get under people's skin, to get his punishments over with quicker, and these stupid Guards were not an exception to his manipulation. One of the three slapped Jono and his head rocketed to the side, sand getting in his eyes and mouth._

_Jono turned and spat the mixture of sand and spit into the eye of the guard who saw fit to crush his neck. The Guard snarled but then smirked cruelly and chuckled darkly. "Well, seeing as we have nobody willing to bed us, and we have a thief that needs punishing here, I say we take our pleasure. Don't you agree you two?" The other Guards matched the expression of their leader and started rubbing the exposed, bloodied skin. Jono shut his eyes tightly. He squirmed and tried to get away but when he felt his clothes ripped from his body and heard other pieces of clothing fall to the ground, Jono bit his lip. He refused to give these vile monsters the satisfaction of hearing him scream._

_A long while later, Jono was stumbling back to the hut he shared with his father, his body covered in more bruises than before. He limped and dragged the material that was once his clothing along the ground. He climbed in through the window and slipped by his father sleeping on the floor, into the only other room of this hovel. He set down the dirty clothes and crawled under the blanket that his father had somehow not destroyed yet. He shut his golden eyes and a tear snuck past his closed eyelid. Jono turned his head to the side and reminded himself of how fortunate he was that his tricks on the Guards had worked. That punishment could've lasted a lot longer than it had and Jono was grateful for the advice from that wandering thief Akefia, it had really helped him this last year. He tried to find a comfortable position where the pain would lessen, but it seems there wasn't such a way to lie. Jono sighed mournfully and resigned himself to a restless night with little to no sleep._

Jou sat up in bed and gasped, breathing wildly as if he couldn't get enough air down his throat. He had known that Jono was as abused as Jou was, but he didn't think that it had ever gone that far in punishment. He felt a sharp pain, everywhere and guessed that Jono's lingering spirit was being made to relive the event as Jou had been forced to witness and experience it.

Jou sighed and tried to settle back down to sleep, he'd talk to Seto in the morning. He knew that Seth had helped Jono deal with the memory of the event back then, so Seto should be able to help Jou through this now. Seto may be an insensitive jerk to everybody except Mokuba, but he took his role as a Yami seriously and was always there to help Jou when he needed assistance. Jou felt his face heat up at the thought of how Seto cared for him, even if he never showed it. He hit himself over the head and tried to fall asleep again but he never wanted to keep his eyes closed when the image of the undeniably attractive Seto Kaiba flashed through his mind. The picture presented itself to Jou like a videotape projector on the inside of Jou's eyelids and the pale blonde Hikari groaned. It was going to turn out to be another very long night.


	12. Chapter 12

Vessel of the Egyptian Gods

**Alternate Storyline.**

**Warnings: Violence, gore, foul language, implied rape and lots and lots of YAOI! Don't like, don't read.**

**Disclaimer: If I owned YuGiOh, this would've been what the series was actually like. *Shudder***

**Thank you for your reviews Ern Estine 13624 and YuGiOhFanatic! Sorry that this chapter is so short, I lacked inspiration this week.**

*/*\*

_Ishizu tried to rebel against the hold Hafiz had over her mind, but found that it was pointless. He had somehow tapped into a malevolent darkness that was keeping Ishizu's thoughts and opinions locked away at the back of her brain, while the only thing she could actually think about was how to move her body and obey Hafiz's orders. While she was sealed away into her soul and forced to watch her life go on from the inside, like some sort of stalker, she noticed all the little details. The things that would lead to the ultimate destruction of her father._

She was walking down the corridors of the tomb that had once been their home beside Odeon. They followed the instructions Hafiz had given them and collected certain objects on the way. The two people with pitch black eyes walked into the main chamber and knelt before Hafiz. They bowed their heads in submission before they were allowed to take in any of the sights.

"You may look around, I sense your curiosity. But do not touch a thing." The two silently agreed to their master's wish and got up, wandering around the room. The first thing in particular that Ishizu noticed was that Hafiz was lounging on a throne of skulls. There were red splotches on some of them and Ishizu gagged in the back of her mind. She could've sworn she saw something slimy leaking out of one of the eye sockets. She fought for enough control to turn away, and then something gold caught her eye.

Odeon saw something in the corner of the room that glinted gold and he made his way over to it. When he neared he felt something watching him and he turned his head to look for the culprit. He saw nobody except Ishizu who was walking to another corner of the room; she wasn't even looking at him. Hafiz had disappeared from the room – most likely going to look over his pictures of Malik – and Odeon felt a sense of relief from the bottom of his soul. That man was gone and even though he felt such a strong wave of revulsion come over him, Odeon was pleased that Malik was acting as a distraction. Whenever they were a further distance from Hafiz, his control over their bodies and souls weakened a bit.

He cast his gaze around the room once more, to try and shake that feeling of being watched. There was still nothing there other than all the treasures Hafiz had stacked in here. Odeon never thought that he could that man as much as he did right now – these were the treasures of the Pharaoh! And as a Guardian, Hafiz was charged with the duty of keeping them safe and hidden until the Pharaoh came to claim them. He wasn't supposed to claim them as his own!

Even though Odeon had been adopted, he felt tremendous loyalty to Malik. It may be repressed slightly because of this spell controlling him and Ishizu, but Malik was a Guardian of the Pharaoh and Odeon would stand beside his brother as a Guardian aswell.

It was strange, every step Odeon took towards the golden object, he could feel more of himself breaking through Hafiz's control. By the time he was next to the object, Odeon was in complete control again and he stopped down to pick up the gold item… and gasped. This was the legendary Millennium Key! But how had Hafiz laid his grubby hands on it? This item was supposed to be out in the world with its owner, Odeon was sure that it had been claimed this generation.

He stood up to his full height and grasped the Key close to his chest. He felt a burning sensation take him over, but it wasn't entirely unpleasant. It died down to a warm feeling the longer he held the Key and centred on his heart, warming his entire being.

"Odeon!" He turned his head at Ishizu's startled cry and he saw Ishizu holding the Millennium Necklace briefly before his gold-green eyes locked with her crystal blue.

*/*\*

Hafiz was rummaging through his things, tossing any unwanted items to the side as he searched for a good picture of Malik. He found one of the boy sleeping and decided that it would do. He took it and scrambled over to his bed excitedly, it had been a while since he had taken his pleasure in Malik and now this was all he had. But it was enough for now.

He was stripping himself of his clothes when he felt as if someone was ramming a dagger through the back of his head. His eyes widened to an extent where they might fall out and start rolling around on the floor. Hafiz dropped the photo and pulled up his underwear, barrelling down the hallways of his home to where he'd left his two servants.

But they weren't his little slaves now, and he would rather die before he let them escape this place. He would reassert his control over them, and Malik would be his!

*/*\*

Malik sat up in his bed screaming. Thunder and lightning raged outside his window and he left the warmth of his bed to get a closer view of the storm. He was shaking and his nerves were running rampant.

Why was he feeling so lost all of a sudden? He felt the Gods stirring in his soul but he ignored them. It was strange the feeling that came over him, something he hadn't felt since the moment he had bonded with Ra, Obelisk, Slifer, Horakhty and Zorc. He didn't even understand why he was feeling this.

What could've caused him to suddenly feel… hope?

He sighed and went back to his bed, longing to get his answers in the morning.

*/*\*

Ishizu stared at Odeon in surprise; he was holding a Millennium Item also. The Key. He slipped it into the pocket of his robe and looked at her expectantly. She knew what he was silently telling her to do but she was in such shock that she couldn't move.

As she had approached the corner of this chamber where she'd seen something gold, a warm feeling had rushed through her, making her feel safe. She'd become a little suspicious as the gold thing in the corner had glowed brilliantly, and even more so when she'd begun to regain control over herself. When she'd reached the corner of the room, lying there on a table was the Necklace. The Eye in the centre had practically stared her down and it couldn't even move!

Almost as if she still wasn't in control, Ishizu had reached out and picked it up, turning around and calling for Odeon when she came back to her senses. The moment Ishizu had touched the mystical Item she'd wanted to drop it and run away screaming, but a little part of her wanted to clutch to this Item and never let go.

"Ishizu, you know what's happened just now. And I know that you know what has to be done now."

Ishizu stayed silent and Odeon sighed. "Do you want me to help you with the clasp?" She nodded and turned around so Odeon could place the Item around her neck. He clasped it shut on a fairly loose setting and pulled her hair out of the way. She was about to thank him when they both suddenly heard the sound of feet pounding against the floor, getting closer towards them. They locked eyes and shared a concerned look, it had to be Hafiz and who knew what he would do when he saw what had happened?

The Necklace and the Key glowed brightly, blinding Odeon and Ishizu for a few seconds before their eyes refocused and met each other's once more. They both shouted.

*/*\*

Hafiz stared in slight shock at his throne room. There were two trails of smoke, reaching up to the ceiling, coming from where he had briefly seen his servants before they disappeared in that bright light. He had heard one thing before they vanished though. The two of them had both shouted the same thing, so it had been very clear for Hafiz to hear.

"Take us to Malik!"

Well they weren't the only ones who could teleport across the globe; he'd been doing it to travel back and forth from home to Japan to stalk his pretty son. He couldn't pinpoint an exact location, but he could still take himself to the general area he was in.

A smirk crawled over his face like a caterpillar and he too vanished, leaving a wisp of smoke behind.


	13. Chapter 13

Vessel of the Egyptian Gods

**Alternate Storyline.**

**Warnings: Violence, gore, foul language, implied rape and lots and lots of YAOI! Don't like, don't read.**

**Disclaimer: You surely must know by now that I don't own YuGiOh!**

**Thank you for your reviews YuGiOhFanatic and Ern Estine 13624.**

*/*\*

_He took a look at his new surroundings and snorted. _This_ was the general area Malik was staying in? The boy could do much better but in a sense he was glad, it just made it that much easier in the plan of making Malik _his_. He heard footsteps approaching and scrambled to his feet to hide behind a tree before he was spotted. He heard voices and couldn't help but grow curious when he caught a bit of their conversation. He looked out from his hiding spot and had to restrain a gasp when he saw a boy that looked like a darker version of Malik, there was another boy who had a ghostly look but he was ignored. Hafiz was only interested in the one that resembled his son._

Their aura was too similar to not have any link with each other, and the resemblance to one another was amazing! Hafiz realized the connection between Malik and his other boy and cursed. His son wasn't meant to have found his other half ever! If only he'd had a chance to block it that day back in the tombs, the day when Malik first summoned The Winged Dragon of Ra. Had the boy not blasted him, he would've found peace with Hafiz a lot sooner, it was far better to obey and suffer no punishment than to fight back and be severely punished. Hafiz certainly wouldn't mind disciplining Malik though; he was looking forward to it.

He pulled himself out of his pleasurable thoughts and started focusing on the conversation between the two boys. They were discussing ways to find someone called Ishtar and the name clicked in Hafiz's mind, they must have encountered Malik recently and seek something from him. He wasn't sure on what, but he'd be damned if he wasn't going to find out - more than he already was that is.

"Bakura what the hell are we doing out here at 3 in the fucking morning!?" The one that looked like his son said and he registered in the back of his mind that the ghostly one must be called Bakura. Now to find out the name of Malik's Yami. Names were everything after all and if he were to find out the name of that tanned Yami, Hafiz may be able to draw some information from his son from him.

"Sorry sleeping beauty but I was told by the dumb Pharaoh to fins where Malik was and that's what I'm gonna do and since he's _your_ Hikari you have to help me!" Hafiz growled lowly, he sincerely doubted that his son's Yami would be called sleeping beauty.

"How the hell do you figure that?!" Hafiz was clenching his fist, drawing blood from the amount of pressure he was applying. He wanted that damn name!

"Look it's my excuse for dragging you out here okay?"

Malik's Yami snarled and waved his fist at Bakura. "_That's_ your excuse Bakura?! Well it's not a very good one."

"I said it was an excuse, I didn't however say it was a good one." The unnamed Yami growled that Bakura was impossible and Hafiz silently agreed from his hiding place. That tanned guy wasn't likely to say his own name and Bakura must be the only one nearby that knew it and might say it.

After listening to them argue a few minutes more Hafiz lost interest. He could just do this the hard way if he needed to, so he chose to send out waves of his aura weakly. This way he could search for Malik and his son would be the only one who could sense the waves coming. With such weak strength being forced into the probe, only a blood relative could feel and stop the aura waves. But even if Malik did manage to stop the waves from coming, Hafiz would have a smaller general area to search and if Malik found some way to destroy the probe, Hafiz would know exactly where to look. If that happened, he'd only have to trace where the wave of magic came from that destroyed that part of his aura and bingo! Hafiz would have one Malik Ishtar back under Hafiz, right where he belonged.

It was just a matter of time and patience.

*/*\*

Malik woke up when he heard the two thudding sounds on his floor and the pained grunts that followed. He sat up sharply and gasped – partly from the nausea of sitting up too quickly and partly from shock. There, sitting sort of upright on the carpet was Ishizu and Odeon. He took in that they seemed to have headaches and leaped out of bed with a feline grace, allowing him a hasty pace to rush to his siblings but staying quiet so as not to cause them any discomfort.

When they blinked and looked around the room for a hint of where they were, Malik called out the names of his brother and sister softly and they fixed their gaze on him. They breathed out his name in… relief, and bounded onto their feet to embrace him tightly. He sunk into their arms and did an extensive search of their auras. They were friendly and comforting if not a little dark. That confused him; his siblings had never been horrible. In fact he didn't think that they had any bad bones in their bodies.

Malik pulled back and looked closely at his siblings as best as he could with teary eyes. "Ishizu, Odeon are you really here or is this a really convincing dream?!"

"Malik!"

"Little brother!" They both reached out and touched his cheeks gently.

"You are here! I can actually feel you touching me. Oh how I've missed you!" Ishizu burst out into tears and Malik let a few tears slip. Odeon remained stoic as ever but it was obvious if he wasn't so proud that he'd sob in relief. The three stayed like that for a while, expressing their joy in their own little ways and enjoying the peace they all felt in their hearts. None of them noticed the sharp pair of brown eyes watching them closely.

*/*\*

Bakura scaled down the drainpipe from the ledge on the window and made sure to swing into Mariku's face. The abused Yami grunted in slight pain and rubbed the spot that Bakura had hit. When the white haired Yami dropped down to the floor and bent his knees so nothing got broken, Mariku glared at him viciously, promising pain and a lifetime of misery – and he knew just how to pull that off. Bakura seemed to get the message and growled back at Mariku.

"Touch my Hikari and you are dead meat Mariku."

"Well I wouldn't have had to consider it if you hadn't kicked me in the face – don't try and play innocent, it doesn't work for you and I saw the gleam in your eyes."

"So what if I did kick you in the face? It's your fault you must realize."

"How the hell did you chalk that up to being my fault?! Thief, you have got to be the most idiotic person I've ever known! And yes! Before you ask, I'm counting Honda in that."

"Well you didn't have to insult me Mariku." Bakura crossed his arms and looked away from Mariku, breathing loudly in an annoyed fashion.

"What? But… you just… I… argh!" Mariku threw his arms up in the air to express his exasperation and also turned away from Bakura. The two partners in crime stayed like that for a minute or two, stubbornly ignoring the other.

"So Bakura what did you see in there?" Mariku shifted to a laid back position and turned to Bakura as if nothing had happened while his friend copied.

Bakura spoke excitedly, "Well I saw this whole lovey dovey moment up in his hotel room with some girl and another guy with a tattoo on his face. They were hugging and Malik and the chick were crying a bit. The guy looked like he wanted to cry but either his tear ducts have been removed or he's very proud."

Mariku couldn't ignore the stab straight to his heart at the possibility of Malik not being all his. He didn't know the reason behind the pain though; he just felt a strong feeling of possessiveness over his Hikari. Bakura looked at him knowingly but Mariku couldn't understand why, so he decided he'd ask about it later. For now he just wanted to know what went on in that room.

"Yeah yeah, so then what?"

Bakura took a breath and continued. "What happened next was the usual check on their auras. The girl's was pale blue with thousands of white dashes, relatively calm with a hint of black. I don't know what that was all about because she seems like a Hikari to me. Maybe because she's related to Malik or has spent so much time around him? The guy's was light green, also with flecks of white but also the dashes of black in there too. It was a hard sort of aura but softened up in some places, he probably drops his stoic mask around his family sometimes or just weakens when he sees people that are extra special to him. He's also got the same feeling of a Hikari but I'm not entirely sure, because if that's the submissive in a relationship, I'd hate to see the dominant guy."

Mariku agreed, Bakura may be a trickster but never on something as serious as this. Malik had the potential power to wipe out the entire planet and Bakura always shaped up some in situations like these. They had sent Bakura to approach him after all when the group found him at the time he was seven years old.

"So that's two people Malik trusts, could they be our way in?"

"They could be Mariku, but I have to agree with the Pharaoh, for once, when he says that we should try and get close to him via your link with him. It makes more sense, he'll have to warm up to you someday and now's just a head start."

Mariku silently agreed, but he'd never tell Bakura that. Even in times like these, Bakura would still be an asshole and gloat his ass off if he found out Mariku had thought that, let alone say it.

"So let's get back to the group at the Kame Game shop and report what you saw, and eternally curse Kaiba for making us run like the military."

"Sounds good." The two partners nodded as if to say 'go' and ran off into the night.

*/*\*

Hafiz was smirking from behind the tree; he retracted the waves of his aura and started melting his body into the shadows to find a place to rest tonight. He found Malik and his two servants, also gaining the name of Malik's Yami. Mariku was a strong name, it would be fun to try and manipulate him. But he couldn't control Mariku if Malik's link with him established further, the only reason he couldn't command Malik to do his bidding was because of the Egyptian Gods, and if the link strengthened any more the Gods' power would flow into Mariku and he would be able to resist.

He touched his face gently and dropped the magic that stopped his face from looking burnt and marred. He touched the singed flesh almost tenderly before starting to claw it away and put his disguise back up. He continued fading away into the shadows and smirked. He had only a few things left to do for his plans to be completed now and he must start by controlling Mariku.

Hafiz would have to act quickly if he wanted to manipulate Malik's Yami at all, but he wouldn't complain one bit if he had to speed his plans up. It meant being one step closer to claiming his pretty Malik.


End file.
